Greenpeace New Zealand Weblog

Kumi Naidoo, the new Executive Director of Greenpeace International, writes:

In several African languages we have the proverb “I am, because you are”. This means that your sense of being a human being is determined by the relationships you have with other people. This proverb has informed not only my thinking about human relationships, but also about nature and the environment. Unless we recognise that we must come together in communities, in rich and poor countries and cut across the range of divides that keep us apart, unless we recognise that we are all in this together, we will not be able to address the environmental challenges that we face and we certainly will not be able to address the problem of climate change.

Today we are at the cross roads. The future of our planet is at stake. The effects of climate change are being felt by millions of people across the world. We are at a time when civil society needs to be courageous and bold, peaceful and principled in coming together to ensure that we stop catastrophic climate change – the biggest challenge our planet has ever faced. Read more »

I’ve arrived at the Greenpeace International office in Amsterdam where I’ll be based for the next couple of weeks. It’s a better option than flying to and from Europe prior to Copenhagen.

The first thing you notice in Amsterdam (apart from the wonderful buildings) is the absence of traffic noise.  The second thing you notice is lots of bicycles.  They’re everywhere.  The roads are designed with cycling in mind and there are plenty of cycle paths. And there’s reliable regular public transport.  It’s very easy to get where you want to without using a car.

Compared with any New Zealand city there are very few cars on the road with little evidence of congestion.  It’s a good reminder that in many New Zealand towns and cities we could do a lot to cut our greenhouse gas emissions by taking a much more sensible approach to roads.  It makes me cringe to think how much money Infrastructure Minister Stephen Joyce is wasting by plundering the public transport budget to build roads without first checking whether the roads will benefit the country. http://www.bettertransport.org.nz/2009/05/economic-benefits-of-roads-of-national-significance-unknown/

Fonterra Climate Crime

Just before dawn this morning Greenpeace activists shut down a pit in the Southland  ‘New Vale’  lignite coalmine.

The dirty lignite coal is used by Fonterra to help fuel operations at its nearby Edendale dairy factory. Like the two palm kernel shipments bound for Fonterra dairy farms recently, the activists have labeled the lignite mine as another Fonterra climate crime.

This action follows our recent expose of Fonterra’s role in rainforest destruction for palm based animal feed and two actions on palm kernel imports into New Zealand.

At the mine activists unfurled a massive 40 by 40 metre banner, reading Fonterra Climate Crime on the ground of the opencast mine. Other activists have blocked one of the entrances and locked themselves onto some of the excavating machinery. See more at http://www.greenpeace.org.nz

Today Greenpeace activists locked down four excavators in the carbon-rich Kampar Peninsula belonging to pulp and paper company APRIL to highlight the need to immediately halt all deforestation in Indonesia.

Carbon emission from deforestation and degradation of forest and peat land areas is the major contributor to Indonesia being the third largest emitter in the world.

At 6.15 am more than 50 activists arrived at the APRIL site. Half an hour later three excavators have been locked down and a banner deployed saying ” OBAMA YOU CAN STOP THIS”.

With three teams blocking excavators, other activists are holding smaller signs saying “climate crime”, in reference to APRIL’s huge contribution to climate change through its massive clearance of forests, with fresh evidence of illegal deforestation.

Follow the action on Twitter or the Climate Defenders page.

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