Greenpeace

“Greenpeace exists because this fragile Earth deserves a voice. It needs solutions.

It needs change. It needs action.”

VIDEO

The Beginning…

In 1971, motivated by their vision of a green and peaceful world, a small team of activists (the Don't Make A Wave Committee) set sail from Vancouver, Canada, in an old fishing boat. These activists, the founders of Greenpeace, believed that a few individuals could make a difference.

Their mission was to “bear witness” the US underground nuclear tests at Amchitka, a small island of Alaska, which is one of the world's most earthquake-prone regions.

Amchitka was the last refuge for 3000 endangered sea species, and home to bald eagles, peregrine falcons and other wildlife.

Even though their old boat was intercepted before it got to Amchitka, the journey sparked a huge interest of public.

The US still detonated the bomb, but the voice of reason had been heard. Nuclear testing on Amchitka ended that same year, and the island was later declared a bird sanctuary.

And this was the beginning of an independent global campaigning organization, that alert the people for the danger that we create to the environment.

The Founders…We can say that the founders of Greenpeace

were the “Don’t Make a Wave Committee” founders: Dorothy and Irving Stowe, Marie and Jim Bohlen, Ben and Dorothy Metcalfe, and Bob Hunter. Its first directors were Stowe, Bohlen, and a student named Paul Cote.

The name origin…The Canadian ecologist Bob Hunter had an

idea, in order to change the name of their committee: he wanted combine words that represent the aims of the group: “green world”, “peace”, “environment”.

And with the combination of this two words “green and peace" came the name of this global organization that defends the environment.

Greenpeace structure…The organization of Greenpeace includes

“Greenpeace International”, whose principal department is in Amsterdam, and 28 national and regional offices worldwide, providing a constant presence in over 40 countries.

These national/regional delegations are autonomous in the conduction of local campaign strategies, in which they operate, as well as the searching of financial support from donors to fund its work.

The preparation and coordination of global strategies is the job of Greenpeace International. The coordination of Greenpeace campaigns across the world and its development and performances is followed by this committee too.

Greenpeace International is the entity that maintains contact with supporters and donors in the countries where don’t exist any national Greenpeace delegation.

Greenpeace around the world…

Countries where are a Greenpeace department

Principal Values“Bearing witness" of environmental destruction

in a peaceful and non-violent way;

Use non-violent confrontation to raise the level and quality of public debate;

Don’ t have permanent allies or adversaries in the reporting of threats to the environment and finding solutions to its treaths;

Ensure the financial independence of the organization for political or commercial interests.

How Greenpeace works?Greenpeace is known for its non-violent

direct action and confronting environmental problems peacefully. However, the non-violent direct action and isn´t the only method that Greenpeace uses to protect the environment.

Witness environmental crimes is one other way, and it was the first form of action taken by the founders of Greenpeace in 1971, at Amchitka.

Sensitize and alert citizens is essential to bring about change. Greenpeace uses its sites, e-mails and official presentations to inform the public, industry and governments on environmental problems and propose solutions.

Greenpeace also lobbies and proposes solutions to persuade business and industry to adopt best practices and measures to implement truly sustainable methods.

Greenpeace over the years…Since the first major victory at Amchitka,

many others (over 100) have been achieved too, from the whales' rescue to the nuclear tests ending. This organization is involved in many issues related to environment, and easily solve them.

1994: Greenpeace actions exposing toxic waste trade from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to non-OECD countries culminate in government negotiation of the Basel Convention banning this practice.

2000-2001: An ever increasing and significant number of European retailers, food producers, and subsidiaries of multinational companies guaranteed to keep genetically engineered ingredients out of their products due to consumer pressure. Thanks to its consumer networks in 15 countries, Greenpeace tests products, collects information about food products and policies and exposes contamination cases.

February 4, 2004:Esso loses its court case against Greenpeace in France. As part of our "Don't buy Esso, Don't buy Exxon/Mobil" campaign, Greenpeace developed a parody of Esso's logo with a double dollar sign: E$$O, which the oil giant attempted to censor. In a victory for freedom of expression on the web and for its campaign against the world's #1 environmental criminal, the French court defended the logo as an exercise in free speech.

March 9, 2006: Electronics giant Hewlett Packard commits to a phase out plan for a range of hazardous chemicals in its products.

September 2008: Six Greenpeace UK volunteers are acquitted of criminal damage by a Crown Court jury in a case that centered on the contribution made to climate change by burning coal. The charges arose after the six attempted to shut down the Kings north coal-fired power station in Kent in 2007 by scaling the chimney and painting the Prime Minister's name down the side. The defendants pleaded 'not guilty' and relied in court on the defense of 'lawful excuse‘, claiming they shut the power station in order to defend property of a greater value from the global impact of climate change.  The landmark case marks the first victory of the 'lawful excuse' defense in a climate-change case in Britain.

Greenpeace ShipsThe Greenpeace fleet of ships is the unique

mean asset in the battle to save planet Earth and protect the global commons. The ships are used at the forefront of Greenpeace campaigning, often sailing to remote areas to “bear witness” and take action against environmental destruction.

RAINBOW WARRIOR Port of registry: Amsterdam, Netherlands Date of arrival: 1987 Construction: 1957 (Cochrane & Sons, Selby, UK) Weight: 555 tons Maximum speed: 12 nodes

MV ESPERANZAPort of registry: Amsterdam, NetherlandsArrival Date: 2000Construction: 1984 (Poland Gdansk)Type of ship: expedition/researchHelicopter Capable: YesWeight: 2,076 tonsMaximum speed: 14 nodes

ARTIC SUNRISEPort of registry: Amsterdam, NetherlandsArrival Date: 1995Construction: 1975 (ASS Vaagen Verft )Weight: 949 tonsMaximum speed: 13 nodes

ARGUSPort of Registry: Rotterdam, NetherlandsArrival Date: 2000Construction: 1977 (Lunde, Sweden) Type of boat: patrolMaximum Speed: 20.5 nodes

BOATSTechnical Name: RIBs (Rigid Inflatable Boats)Arrival date: used since 1975Use: SupportHull: fiberglass or aluminumEngines: 1 or 2*Note: Responsible for the most famous and spectacular actions of the organization

Greenpeace Resources

Greenpeace doesn't’ t accept donations from businesses, governments and political parties to finance their activities. The financial resources that sustain their activities come from voluntary donations from individuals and part of the sales in their stores.

These stores, called “Greenpeace Area” (Green Shop) releases and markets a line of licensed products by other entity, whose production doesn´t bring any risks to the environment or have low environmental impact. The strategy is offer non-polluting alternatives to consumers.

The future of Greenpeace…For the next years, Greenpeace want to

continue this “fight” against all of the environmental problems, unfortunately created by us.

The priorities campaigns are:

Catalyzing an energy revolution to address the number one threat facing our planet: climate change.

Defending our oceans by challenging wasteful and destructive fishing, and creating a global network of marine reserves.

Protecting the world’s remaining ancient forests which are depended on by many animals, plants and people.

Working for disarmament and peace by reducing dependence on finite resources and calling for the elimination of all nuclear weapons.

Creating a toxic free future with safer alternatives to hazardous chemicals in today's products and manufacturing.