Greenpeace New Zealand Weblog

The Kampar peninsula on the island of Sumatra sits deep in the heart of the Indonesian rainforest. Part of the ring of tropical forest that circles the middle of the planet, it’s rich with diversity – a unique and complex ecosystem, sustaining fishing communities, hunters and farmers, full of unique plants and animals, and home to endangered species like the Sumatran tiger and the Wallace’s hawk, not found anywhere else in the world. Read more »

Images are a powerful way of telling a story especially when they capture emotion.

On Tuesday evening a small crowd which attended a public seminar, organised by Greenpeace and the Indonesia Human Rights Committee, on the palm industry and rainforest destruction, got a chance to see and hear what is happening in Indonesia, Malaysia and West Papua right now.

There were the expected photos of burning rainforests and landscapes looking like war zones but the most powerful images were close-ups of the two faces which were part of a presentation by Hauraki farmer Max Purnell who travelled to Indonesian in August to see first hand what was happening. Read more »

Greenpeace activists Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, better known as the Tokyo Two, are on trial for intercepting a box of whale meat as part of an investigation into an embezzlement ring within Japan’s taxpayer-funded ‘research’ whaling programme.

The Japanese government subsidises the loss-making whaling programme to the tune of US$5 million a year, making the embezzlement of whale meat exposed by Junichi and Toru a significant crime. But instead of the criminals behind the embezzlement facing justice, it’s the Toyko Two who find themselves in the dock. Read more »

Have you sent YOUR climate care package to Copenhagen?

We urgently need your help in the lead up to the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen this December.

We’re trying to get as many people as we can to send a virtual package to the conference. Each package contains our demands and, if you have time, a brilliant slogan — to be delivered by a quirky cardboard cartoon character with YOUR face on it. The best slogan will appear on a Greenpeace banner and the characters will be part of a virtual video march. The more we have the better:

The Climate Summit will see over 15,000 officials from 200 countries gather in Copenhagen with 1 goal: to agree on a deal to combat global warming. This is a truly incredible event which has the power to mark a U-turn away from decades of inaction on climate change. That’s why we want to make sure they not only agree on a deal, but make a firm pact for change that packages together 3 clear actions:

1. Big cuts in emissions from rich countries
2. A fund to save our forests
3. Funds to help developing countries deal with climate change

Please, help us make sure their solution truly delivers. Visit action-pact.org and send  your message.

Let’s make sure our political leaders know we want them thinking about the next generation, not just the next election.

Come and learn more about the campaign to stop imports from palm industry and protect the old growth forests and people of Indonesia and West Papua.

Speakers
Simon Boxer: Greenpeace senior climate campaigner
Max Purnell: Independent farmer who accompanied Greenpeace to Indonesia to assess the impact of Fontera’s palm kernel imports
Catherine Delahunty: Green Party MP, sponsor of the new bill to combat deforestation
Maire Leadbeater: Indonesia Human Rights Committee and ‘Don’t buy kwila campaign’

Date: Tuesday, 27 October 2009, 7pm
Venue: Lecture theatre 404, Engineering bldg, Symonds Street, Auckland University
Sponsored by: Greenpeace, 11 Akiraho St, Mt Eden Phone 630-6317 and Indonesia Human Rights Committee

Coal and oil companies are using forest offset projects to try and cheat the climate. Our new report Carbon Scam investigates how American Electric Power, BP and Pacificorp – all investors in the Noel Kempff Climate Action Project in Bolivia – are using the forest protection project to try and avoid reducing their own greenhouse gas emissions.

How do you measure success? Many times, it’s difficult to point to one specific moment when a campaign delivers a big moment that demonstrates, beyond any doubt, that you’ve succeeded.

Well, our thanks go to E.ON for providing that moment for our coal campaign late last night – just as we were leaving the office, in fact. On my way to the pub, I met a press officer running back towards the front door – “E.ON have shelved Kingsnorth – just got to go and check if it’s real, see you in a few…” Read more »

Over the weekend we renewed our call for John Key and dairy giant Fonterra to stop the import of palm based animal feed because of its devastating climate impact. Greenpeace activists painted a large “Fonterra Climate Crime” on a shipment from Indonesia in the Port of Taranaki. Read more »

From Greenpeace UK…

Fifty-five Greenpeace volunteers have scaled the walls of the Houses of Parliament and are now occupying the roof to call for for a new style of politics in Britain, one capable of rising to meet the challenge of climate change.

Bold action! Now if only we had politicians with your guts.

Read more on the Greenpeace UK site, read exactly what the activists are asking for and follow live updates via @greenpeaceuk.

You will no doubt have noticed that just about every environment organisation in the world is going on about this year’s UN climate conference in Copenhagen. If you want to find out exactly what it is, where it is, what it’s for, and why it’s so damn important – this Copenhagen in 60 Seconds guide on The Ecologist is a great read.