Greenpeace Campaign

Greenpeace and their Campaigns Greenpeace Campaign against to the Ocean Dumping of Radioactive Waste Greenpeace has been campaigning against the disposal of radioactive waste into the oceans since 1978, when it drew the world’s attention to the routine practice of dumping radioactive waste from ships into the sea. Fifteen years later, in 1993, the international community finally moved to ban sea dumping of radioactive waste from ships. However, the campaign to protect the world’s seas and coastal communities from radioactive contamination continues. Every year millions of liters of radioactive waste are being routinely pumped into the sea from nuclear reprocessing plants. Each year, the total amount of radioactivity discharged into the environment from Europe’s giant reprocessing plants at sell a field, in the United Kingdom, and La Hague, in France, exceeds that dumped in many of the world’s 80 known ocean dumpsites. National governments, which finally recognized the danger of dumping radioactive waste into the sea from ships, continue to allow the same waste to be pumped directly into the ocean. This practice poses a health risk to millions of European citizens and a threat to the environment. It must be stopped. Discharges of radioactive waste into the north-east Atlantic are regulated by the OSPAR Commission which consists of: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the European Union (a) Radioactive Waste Dumping Greenpeace first encountered a vessel routinely and deliberately dumping radioactive waste at sea, approximately 400 miles South West of Cornwall in July 1978. The area had been specified by the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), an offshoot of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), as the designated dumpsite of the western European nuclear industry. In the late 1940s, the nuclear industry had chosen the oceans as a convenient place to dispose of its inconvenient wastes. The USA, the then USSR, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and other states used the sea as a radioactive dump, both in the Pacific and the Atlantic, and they were determined to continue. The Oslo Convention was the first regional treaty to regulate the dumping of wastes at sea the countries bordering the North-East Atlantic negotiated it in 1972. The nuclear industry successfully blocked efforts to include radioactive wastes within the auspices of the convention. Consequently, while the Convention regulated the dumping of sewage sludge, dredging spoils, and organ halogen compounds (amongst others) for almost twenty five years, the signatory nations had no right to even comment on the dumping of radioactive wastes. Yet, paradoxically, the OECD/NEA designated dumpsite for radioactive wastes was inside the area covered by the Convention. A few months later in 1972 the negotiations on the London Dumping Convention were concluded. This was the first global treaty to regulate the dumping of wastes at sea. This time the negotiations were less dominated by the Western European nuclear states, and, as a result, the dumping of so-called high-level radioactive wastes was banned. However, the London Convention did not provide adequate protection for the public or the environment because the classification of radioactive wastes as high, medium, or low level had been drawn-up under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) primarily for ‘handling purposes’ (for the protection of nuclear workers). It had little to do with the radio toxicity and the isotopic composition of radioactive waste and their possible impacts on the health of the general population or the protection of the environment. Even today, there is no internationally accepted definition of what constitutes high, medium or low level radioactive waste. Hence, among so-called low-level radioactive wastes, can also be found extremely radiotoxic and persistent isotopes such as plutonium and strontium. Dumping at sea was taking place out of sight and out of mind. Apart from those involved in the narrow circles in which ocean dumping operations were planned and executed, no one had any real knowledge of what was going on out in the open ocean. It was virtually impossible to question operations of which no one had any real knowledge. But, from 1978 onwards Greenpeace campaigned to make sure that ocean dumping became increasingly visible, thus making it more and more difficult for the nuclear industry to portray itself as a responsible industry searching for the best all round solutions for radioactive waste management, its number one problem (b) Dolphin Safe Campaign To stop the changing of current stringent U.S. dolphin protection laws and prevents a huge renewed kill by the tuna industry. The campaign for a dolphin the campaign for a dolphin safe tuna fishery, which Greenpeace Foundation has worked on as a core issue since 1976, now has Emergency status. Dolphins are in grave danger once again, due to a U.S. bailout of dolphin-killing nations, and U.S. legislation passed in 1997, which guts U.S. dolphin-protection law. Dolphins are in grave danger once again, due to a U.S. bailout of dolphin killing nations, and U.S. legislation passed in 1997, which guts U.S. dolphin-protection law and would fraudulently re-define the term ‘dolphin safe’. (c) Japan Dolphin Kill Campaign Greenpeace Foundation originally defined the Japan dolphin-saving issue for the world. Greenpeace are working to end "drive kills" and "harpoon fisheries". And also working to expose and end the growing practice of selling dolphin as "whale meat", which defrauds the Japanese consumer, creates a lucrative black market, and encourages international trade in dead dolphins. (d) Driftnet Campaign Drift netting is the most destructive form of fishing ever devised. 40 mile long nets are laid in a straight line, 50 feet deep. Laid perpendicular to fish and marine animal migrations, they float like invisible unbreakable spider webs, catching everything which cannot swim .Driftnets can strip mine the life out of an area in only a few seasons, leaving a lifeless watery desert. Greenpeace Foundation created the fight to ban them, a fight still in progress to save whales, seals, dolphins, seabirds, turtles, and hundreds of other species. (e) Anti-Whaling Campaign Whales are incredible, intelligent animals whose numbers have been cruelly decimated by industrial whaling. Greenpeace Foundation is dedicated to an end to all whaling. It was a founder of the global anti-whaling movement, and has worked for 22 years in this cause, seeking out, uncovering, and exposing the reality, cruelty and often illegality of whaling. (f) Sea Turtle Campaign To prevent the killing of 150,000 endangered sea turtles each year in unmodified shrimp nets like the dolphins, the sea turtles have been sold out by the U.S. in the name of "free trade". Turtles are caught in scrimping nets around the world, but "turtle excluder devices" can release over 97% of sea turtles unharmed. USA law until 1988 mandated the use of these devices on all shrimp sold in the U.S., saving huge numbers of turtles. But now the U.S. government is bowing to the World Trade Organization, which says such U.S. laws are not allowable. (g) Monk Seal Campaign The most endangered seal species on earth actually an endangered genus is the Monk Seal. All global populations are now considered extinct except for fragile populations based on remote isles in the North Pacific and in caves in the Mediterranean. Although living in remote areas, their populations have been brought to the threshold of extinction by man's activities. We're working to help them survive (h) LFA/Ocean Environment Campaign The seas and their inhabitants are subjected to many stresses from man's activities. One, which is little known but potentially destructive is noise pollution, which can disrupt the lives of or physically harm sea animals. The U.S. Navy, NATO, and other navies are blasting the oceans with enormous sound pressures as part of systems designed to detect enemy submarines. We're trying to end this assault, and recommending alternate approaches (i) The Green Freeze Refrigerator In 1992 Greenpeace Germany commissioned a prototype refrigerator with a hydrocarbon-cooling agent instead of the ozone-depleting CFC substitutes, HFCs and HCFCs. Large chemical companies were highly sceptical, declaring that the development of such technology was many years off. Yet Greenpeace persuaded a struggling East German company, Forum, to start commercial production of refrigerator in 1993. Sales in Germany took off rapidly and within months major manufactures such as Bosch began shifting to the new technology. By 1997, almost 100% of German and approaching 80% of production in Northern and Western Europe was green freeze.