Concerns of Greenpeace Movemnet

Major Concerns of Greenpeace Movement (a) Save the Whales It was not until 1975 that Greenpeace first launched the campaign that was to be its most famous for years, there was widespread concern about the unchecked commercial hunting of whales. Species after species had crashed to near extinction as a result of centuries of rampant over hunting. The International Whaling Commission (IWC), founded in 1946 to prevent further over exploitation, had instead presided over some of the worst excesses in wailing’s history. A near unanimous call for a ten year moratorium on commercial whaling by the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment had been ignored by the whaling nations. Greenpeace decided to take the fight directly to the whalers, basing their plans on footage of the French buzzing the Vega with small inflatable boats or Zodiacs. Greenpeace planned to use Zodiacs to block the whaler’s line of fire. They would place themselves directly between the whales and the whaling harpoons. Greenpeace chose as its target a Soviet fleet hunting sperm whales in the North Pacific. The ship they used was once again the original Greenpeace vessel, the ‘Phyllis Cormack’ At the end of June 1975, the ‘Cormack’ found the Soviet fleet about 80 kilometers west of Eureka, California and Greenpeace’s first whaling protest began. The Greenpeace ship set off in pursuit of a whaling ship chasing three whales. Zodiacs were deployed with crew prepared to place themselves between the whales and the harpoons. As one of the Zodiacs pounded through the waves ahead of the whale catcher, there was a loud crack, and a harpoon flew just over the crew's heads. The harpoon cable lashed a few feet away while the harpoon plunged into the back of a nearby whale. Greenpeace had been unable to save that whale, but the footage of the harpoon being fired so close to the protesters became the defining image of the campaign. The ‘Phyllis Cormack’ returned to California to a hero’s welcome. Over the ensuing years, Greenpeace conducted further actions against whaling fleets from Japan, Norway, Iceland, Spain, Australia, the Soviet Union and Peru, in places as far flung as the Mediterranean and the Antarctic. In 1982, the International Whaling Commission voted to adopt an indefinite moratorium on commercial whaling, and in 1994 declared the Southern Ocean a sanctuary for whales. (b) The Toxic Threat Toxic pollutants are now found around the world. From developed countries where many toxic chemicals are produced through industrial processes to developing countries, where toxic waste is often exported and where multinational corporations have established new factories to avoid pollution control measures in industrialized nations, toxics are ever present. In places as diverse as the depths of the ocean and the ice of Antarctica, ocean currents and winds have transported contaminants far and wide. Many such compounds have been identified as causing a significant number of reproductive and immune suppression health problems in a wide range of species, including humans. Some Cancers and certain cases of infant mortality have also been linked to environmental pollution. Greenpeace believes that attempts at pollution control are nothing more than ‘band aid’ solutions. Greenpeace advocates instead taking serious measures towards pollution prevention. These measures include: bans and phase outs of existing toxic technology and compounds; the development and use of alternative, safe materials and production methods; and the adoption of a more precautionary approach to developing and producing potentially harmful substances. In particular, Greenpeace is working to bring about a complete phase out of the use of chlorine in all industrial processes since alternatives to most chlorine processes already exist. Chlorine based chemicals are some of the most toxic chemicals known and have recently been linked to hormone disruption in human development. Greenpeace continues to campaign for the elimination of other toxic chemicals and to end the global trade in hazardous waste. (c) Nuclear Threat The existence, testing and proliferation of nuclear weapons remain one of the greatest threats to human survival. Greenpeace has continually and forcefully pushed for disarmament measures and for a comprehensive nuclear test ban as a way of eliminating nuclear weapons and ending the global arms race. For 25 years Greenpeace has protested directly against nuclear testing by all five of the declared nuclear powers Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States and has played a major role in the cessation or suspension of testing activities by several of those countries. Beyond this, Greenpeace continues to work for elimination of all nuclear weapons worldwide. Nuclear power is the Siamese twin of the nuclear arms race. The reprocessing of waste from nuclear reactors is a critical element of the production of plutonium, which is used for nuclear weapons; the transport and disposal of radioactive waste, poses potentially catastrophic risks to human life and the environment. At the same time, incidences of cancer around nuclear power stations remain worryingly high, as does the risk of further catastrophes such as the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear plant. Greenpeace campaigns for a complete phase-out of nuclear power and for responsible management of nuclear waste. (d) Diminishing Bio-diversity Never before in the history of the planet have so many resources been consumed, diverted and wasted for the benefit of just one species. Humans are now appropriating 40 percent of total food resources on land; the remaining 60 percent must be divided up among the millions of other species. After decades of increasing fish catches, we have virtually reached the limit of what can be extracted from our rivers, lakes and seas. Some scientists now believe that, as our activities, consumption and population growth continue to accelerate, half of the Earth's species are likely to disappear within the next 75 years. Greenpeace’s campaigns to protect the Earth's biodiversity focus on: the global fisheries crisis; the destruction of the planet's natural forests; the commercial whaling industry; and the threats to the global environment posed by genetic engineering. Greenpeace also continues to campaign to protect Antarctica, the world's last, and largest, wilderness area. (e) Atmosphere Thereat Life on Earth would be impossible without the ozone layer, an extremely thin shield in the atmosphere, which protects the planet's surface from the sun's deadly ultraviolet radiation, or UV-B rays. But chemical compounds such as CFCs and HCFCS, millions of tons of which continue to be pumped into the atmosphere, are destroying this shield. At the same time, the level of so-called "greenhouse gases" entering the atmosphere is also increasing, leading to already-observable increases in the earth's temperature and shifts in global weather patterns. Greenpeace is working for a phase out of greenhouse gases, primarily through changes in the energy and transport sectors, by improving efficiency and opting for renewable energy sources such as solar, Wind and biomass. We have also campaigned for an end to the production of all ozone-depleting chemicals and to bring about solutions to existing ozone depleting refrigeration. In the early 1990s, Greenpeace initiated the development of an ozone-friendly refrigerator. This prototype is now being mass-produced by international manufacturers in many countries. (f) Oceans Oceans are more than just water; they are intricate ecosystems and a vital part of the Earths life support system. Yet they are under threat from many directions including toxic pollution, nuclear waste discharges, and climate change, over fishing and whaling. Over fishing is the biggest single threat to marine biodiversity. Most of the world’s major fisheries are being over exploited or even depleted altogether as industrial scale fishing fleets vacuum the oceans in the rush to fish into cash. Greenpeace campaigns vigorously for conservation measures to protect fish stocks and the livelihoods of the fishing communities who depend upon them. Greenpeace also works to maintain the moratorium on large scale commercial whaling, which was imposed by the International Whaling Commission in 1986. But Norway and Japan are both aggressively pushing to have this ban overturned and may yet succeed. (g) Ancient Forests Ancient forests are living expressions of billions of years of evolution, and are home to up to 90% of the worlds land based species. But many of these will not survive the ongoing plunder of their habitat. Nor will the worlds many groups of indigenous people for whom the ancient forests of South and Central America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific are home. Massive timber and mineral extraction programmers are destroying their livelihoods, and the preservation of their cultural traditions is in the balance. Greenpeace has identified large scale commercial tree felling as the main but not the only contributor to the destruction of ancient forests. Amazingly, these unique and irreplaceable wild places are being systematically logged to make cheap and disposable products such as toilet paper, milk cartons and phone books. (h) Climate Climate change is the single biggest threat facing the global environment. The world’s ongoing addiction to the burning of oil, coal and gas is causing the climate to change at rates faster than any time in human history. Early in 2001, the UNs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirmed that the global climate was changing and that the burning of oil, coal and gas was the primary cause. Global efforts to confront this issue are being met with opposition. In November 2000, the US, Australia and Canada helped stall the international climate talks taking place in the Hague; and just four months later the newly installed American president, George W Bush, rejected the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, sparking global protest. Greenpeace is campaigning globally to pressure corporate America and George W Bush to work with the rest of the world to save the climate.