| Greenpeace in India Bhopal Tragedy and Greenpeace On the night of the disaster, December 1984, an explosion at Union Carbide’s pesticide plant caused 40 tones of lethal gas to seep into the city of Bhopal, six safety measures designed to prevent a gas leak had either malfunctioned, were turned off or were otherwise inadequate. In addition, the safety siren, intended to alert the community should an incident occur at the plant, was turned off. Bhopal is an ongoing disaster. One hundred twenty thousand people still face serious health problems and children born to survivors are also affected. The toxic chemicals abandoned in Bhopal by the chemical company have contaminated the groundwater that is used by thousands of people who live around the abandoned factory Greenpeace and Bhopal survivors. Union Carbide responded to the disaster by paying survivors inadequate compensation and abandoning the plant, leaving tones of dangerous toxic chemicals strewn around the site and the people of Bhopal with a toxic legacy that is still causing injury today. In 2001, the company shed its name by merging with Dow Chemical. The government of India unexpectedly started proceedings to dilute charges against Anderson from culpable homicide to negligent to homicide. But yesterday, the judgment of a Bhopal Court rejected the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation’s plea to dilute charges against Anderson. Greenpeace called on the U.S. State Department to arrest and extradite international fugitive and Bhopal corporate criminal Warren Anderson, who has been found by a UK newspaper and Greenpeace living a life of luxury in New York State. Anderson, the former Chief Executive Officer of Union Carbide[1]has been, hiding in the United States since an explosion at his company’s plant in Bhopal, India, caused the worst industrial disaster in history in December 1984. Greenpeace paid Anderson a visit at his U.S. home and handed him an arrest warrant. He has been facing charges of culpable homicide and an extradition order from the government of India for the past eleven years. He has never appeared in court to face charges for crimes in Bhopal or even to explain why his company did not apply the same safety standards at its plant in India that it operated at a sister plant in South Charleston, the U.S. State of West Virginia. Opposition to Dumping of Used Mercury in India Greenpeace and activist groups in India and the U.S. have called on D.F. Goldsmith and Metal Corp. to stop the export of a 118 ton stockpile of used mercury from the United States to an undisclosed destination in India. The mercury stockpile, which is the largest in the country, was recovered from Holtra Chem., a Maine-based chlorine-caustic factory. D.F. Goldsmith and Metal Corp., an Illinois-based trader, has purchased the stockpile, allegedly for shipment to a secret recipient in India. Companies and federal government agencies in the U.S. do not want the stockpile because of environmental risks and liability associated with storing the metal, which is known to be a deadly nerve poison. Mercury affects the human brain, spinal cord, kidneys and liver. Following protests by Maine-based environmental organizations, the Governor of Maine, Angus King, approached the federal government to prevent the export and instead add the stockpile to the existing store of used mercury in the Department of Defense's (DOD) stockpile. Neither Maine nor any of the neighboring states have any facilities to store the material. The U.S. refused to accept the mercury, claiming they lack authority to do so. In the past, Greenpeace, Basel Action Network and Toxics Link have highlighted numerous cases of toxic trade, hazardous waste dumping and the export of obsolete products or technologies by industrialized countries to India. Indian activist groups have raised the matter with the U.S. Embassy and the Government of India, and have alerted the trade unions, including the dockworkers unions of the impending toxic shipments. Enough is enough of USA toxic imperialism that dumps unwanted and dangerous substances, technologies and wastes on industrializing countries. Investigation on Industrial Sectors in Kerala Greenpeace published a report “Corporate Crimes”, has listed the Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK) in Kottayam and Hindustan Insecticides Ltd. (HIL), Eloor, as companies responsible for causing pesticide pollution in the State. According to the report, aerial spraying of the persistent toxic chemical, Endosulfan, has affected around 20,000 people spread over 15 villages in Kasargod district. Surface water sources such as tanks, streams, ponds and soil have been continuously poisoned with Endosulfan. Very high residues of pesticide have been reported to be found in drinking water resources and soil, Greenpeace has held the PCK responsible for the aerial spraying of extremely hazardous chemical for more than two decades and violating recommendations and safety measures in the process. The Department of Agriculture was also responsible for failing to intervene despite complaints since 1980. According to the report, the Central Insecticides Board of India has failed to implement an important shared recommendation of two Government appointed committees to stop the use of Endosulfan near water bodies. The Pollution Control Board had failed to take measures to protect water bodies and the public while the National Research Center for Cashew and Kerala Agricultural University have been found to be responsible for advocating the use of Endosulfan in crops in Kerala The final Greenpeace statement demanded that State owned corporations be made liable and accountable to the public like privately owned multinational corporations. In the case of HIL, Eloor, the report said that the company had released effluents contaminated with DDT and metabolites, Endosulfan and derivatives, BHC and other chemicals, including highly toxic organ chlorines into a public stream. According to a Greenpeace investigation conducted in 1999, the effluent stream shared by this factory with Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) and Merchem Ltd., contains 111 toxic chemicals of which 39 are organ chlorines. The contaminants were linked to releases from HIL. The primary effluent reaches Periyar, which is the drinking water source for the entire city of Kochi and Aluva. Periyar was also the source of livelihood for thousands of fisher folk; the report said that the contaminated stream had directly affected around 20000 people as it flowed into a river that was used for drinking water. The stream also contaminated wetlands, vegetation and domestic animals in the area. Around 80% of the people in the area were reportedly found suffering from respiratory diseases. The Greenpeace has held HIL and the PCB responsible for causing extensive damage. Hindustan insecticides Ltd has been manufacturing pesticides at its Udyogmandal site (Kochi) since 1956 and, according to the Ministry of chemicals and Fertilizers, continues to produce DDT and Endosulfan. The plant located adjacement to a wetland, apparently discharges its effluent to an open channels. Greenpeace international visited Udyogmandal Industrial Estate on 22nd may 1999 and collected samples of water and sediment from the creek and of soil/sediment from the adjacent wetlands, for analysis of organic containment and heavy metals. The results of this analysis demonstrate that, Sediment from the creek sampled 10m downstream from HIL contained more that 100 organic compounds 39 of which were organ chlorines, including DDT and its metabolites Endosulfan and several isomers of hexacholorocyclohexane (HCH).DDT and HCH were also detectable in the water/effluent sampled downstream from HIL, indicating that production of these insecticides, and their realize to the creek, is continuing. DDT and its metabolites were also detectable in the wetland surrounding the Udyogmandal estate. Although it cannot be ruled out that the presence of these residues might result from direct application of DDT for malaria Vector control, the presence in these samples of other chlorinated chemicals also identified in the creek and/or other uncontrolled discharge from the estate might be leading to more widespread contamination of the wetland. In summary, the results of this investigation strongly support the conclusion that the manufacture of DDT and other pesticides at the Hindustan Insecticides Ltd plant is ongoing. And is resulting the continued release of these and diverse mixture of other organocholorine chemicals to the environment. Determination of the source of containment in the surrounding wetland demands further investigation. The Kuzhikandom Thodu Effluent Creek The Kuzhikondom thodu creek flows through a number of different industrial units on the Udyogmangal estate. According to local source, many plants discharge uncreated or partially treated wastewaters in to this creek. Immensely upstream from the HIL site, this creek flows through the Fertilizers and Chemical Travancore (FACT) site. Immensely downstream from HIL the creek flows through the edge of the MERCHEM site. According to local source, there are no regular discharges to the creek from Mercham plant. Two samples of sediments collected from this effluent creek. One samples (IT9011) was collected at the point at which the creek enters the HIL site, in order to determine the nature of containment inputs from plants situated upstream from HIL. At this location, the air above the creek was choking, making it impossible to breath close to the level of the water. The second samples (IT9010) was collected from the creek at its point of exit from the Merchem site approximately 10 meters downstream from its exit from the HIL site, as it was not possible to gain access to the creek closer to the HIL boundary. These samples consisted of a black and oily sludge, a sample of the water effluent following in the creek (IT9009) was also collected at this point. These two samples were collected in order to give an indication of the type of effluent being discharged in to the creek by HIL. At the time of sampling, however, there was no clear indication that effluent was being discharged. Moreover as a result of the preceding monsoon rains, any effluent discharge to the creek would have been considerably diluted with rainwater flow at the time of sampling. The result of brief investigation give a strong indication that activities at the Hindustan insecticides LTD plant in kochi, Kerala have resulted in substantial contamination of the Kuzhikondoam Thodu creek with DDT, Endosulfan, HCH (BHC) and a wide range of other hazardous organocholorine chemicals to the environment. DDT and other organchlorine were also detectable in the wetland surrounding the plant, although the verification of source of this contraindication would require further research. Greenpeace and River Keeping Programme Periyar is one of the most polluted rivers in Kerala; the water pollution in the lower reaches of the Periyar system has reached alarming levels. Over a month back, dozens of buffaloes had died allegedly after drinking the river water polluted by effluents dumped by the industries in Eloor and Edayar industrial belts. In the past five years, several incidents of large-scale `fish kill' have occurred in the river system. Greenpeace, which has declared Eloor as an environmental hotspot, will launch the `river keeper' project in the fourth week of November2002, Manu Gopalan, toxics campaigner of the agency, told, it would coincide with the arrival in Kochi of the Greenpeace ship ‘Arctic Sunrise’ and the Bhopal bus tour, which are part of the agencies 1000 Bhopal’s global campaign against industrial pollution. Local environmental and river protection NGOs will back up the keeper will ride in a boat from Eloor to where the river meets the sea to look for originating points of industrial effluents as well as other pollutants. They will be photographed for fool proof evidence against the culprits. Since most of the dumping is done at night, the keeper will be provided with a night-vision camera to capture it on film. Water samples collected will be chemically examined daily. Mr. Gopalan said this way the `fish kill' or ‘buffalo kill’ could be predicted and steps taken against it. The Greenpeace would fund the project initially and later on the local NGOs would take care of it[2]. It was modeled on fishermen’s experience in Hudson River, New York. In the 1980s, fishermen living off the Hudson were hit by the water pollution caused by industrial and other effluents. They decided to appoint a river keeper to keep a watch on the polluters. The local Government had equipped the keeper with administrative authority to punish the polluters. The drive was a big success, which helped reduce water pollution and thus protect the fishermen's livelihood. Chaliyar: The Struggle In the villages of Vazhyoor and Vazhakkad in Kerala, the Chaliyar River has been polluted by an industry built on its banks, the Grasim Mavoor Rayons factory. Growing paddy and coconut on its fertile banks, the people who lived there were also happy, naturally. The turnaround began on 30 May 1958 when the state government of Kerala leased out 1000 hectares of the surrounding Nilamboor forests to the Birla group of industries. The idea was to allow the Birla group a source of bamboo for their pulp industry. What began as 0.1 million tones of bamboo requirement, doubled within four years by 1962. It was in 1963 that the Grasim Mavoor Rayons factory, established on the riverbank, went into production. And they, few hundred jobs offered to them, but the poisoning of their beloved river. Untreated factory effluents were polluting the river and seeping into the ground. The river soon became a cursed fount of skin diseases, cancers, even asthma and tuberculosis. The 1960s and early 1970s were a painful time for the people of the region, and ironically, the factory faced closure too for a while in 1974 when the river got so polluted that it lost its very flow. Since the water was being pumped into the factory too, the high level of effluents in it made production difficult. Finally, under the leadership of K A Rahman, President of the Panchayat of Vazhyoor village, the movement bore fruit. Working relentlessly for the Chaliyar, Rahman finally succumbed to cancer, even while dying, that his people should continue the struggle. Anguished by his loss, the villagers went on an indefinite hunger strike from 26 January 1999. Although the company posed the threat that 3000 people would be rendered jobless in the struggle, the villagers knew what they were doing. After all, 9000 fishermen had lost their livelihoods because fish no longer flourished or even survived in the Chaliyar. And what of the health impact, intangible and immeasurable. The factory was closed in August 1999; the rest followed suit. Universities and research institutes joined hands with the people to record and analyze the pollutants and were aghast with the results. Greenpeace, the global activist organization, stepped in demanding that the ‘polluter must pay’. Finally, the court asked the factory to pay 90 days of wages as compensation to the workers. The factory doors were permanently locked on 30 June 2001 and compensation dues were cleared by July 2001. It was a small beginning and one that promised to be little more than a footnote in the history of the environmental movement. Yet, when the Phyllis Cormack set sail from Vancouver in the afternoon of 15 September 1971, something quite new was launched: a force for change. In the years that followed Greenpeace would become a global symbol for people seeking to challenge those who pollute and damage the planet. Its hard to imagine that from such small, even disorganized, beginnings, Greenpeace has become an organization with the ability to shake established power brokers and influence the international environmental agenda. But that is what it has done. Greenpeace cannot claim to have single handedly changed peoples thinking about the world they live in. However, in adopting its special non-violent, direct action approach of 30 years ago it set a pattern for others to follow, not just in the environmental world, but beyond. All over the world voices of protest have been heard: by politicians, governments and businesses. Arguments that would otherwise be dismissed have been listened to and accepted. In countries where the opinions of those in power were dominant and seldom challenged, the right to have an opinion and take action has become accepted, even established. In Lebanon, ravaged by civil was in the 1970s, in the Soviet Union and later Russia, in China and in Turkey to name only a few, Greenpeace has pioneered civil, peaceful protest. It has shown that, when something is important enough, it makes a difference to stand up for principle and challenge the decision makers. Also in countries where democratic rights have long been established, Greenpeace has developed a new style of campaigning and shown there are effective ways to raise a voice, to be heard, to make a difference. Greenpeace activists have been jailed, their campaigns have changed laws, but in the end it is the arguments that underpin Greenpeace’s actions that have won the day. The news media has, of course, recorded these changes as incidents and events. They are already history. Only when reflecting on how things might look today had Greenpeace not existed at all. |
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Greenpeace in India
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. |
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. |
Greenpeace Movements
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