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NETWORK Newsletter for Greenpeace activists
June/July 2009
NEWS UPDATE: A Greenpeace direct communication tells Nobu to stop serving bluefin tuna Greenpeace activists visited London Nobu restaurants – part owned by Robert De Niro – to stop it serving bluefin tuna. Activists used bluefin silhouettes to ask celebrity diners on Nobu’s first floor restaurants to tell Nobu to take bluefin off the menu. Nobu knows that bluefin tuna is just as endangered as gorilla, rhino and tiger, yet is still serving the species. Clockwise from main picture: A Greenpeace activist greets diners with a spoof Nobu menu containing dishes made from other species that are as endangered as bluefin, eg Siberian Tiger, Gorilla and Polar Bear / Sugababe Amelle poses with Greenpeace activists, telling Nobu to take bluefin off the menu / Comedy actor Jack Black and friends enter the restaurant clutching a spoof menu / Clean graffiti – created by cleaning away dirt instead of painting over it – appears outside Nobu.
© Jiri Rezac / Greenpeace
© Dennis Gill
www.greenpeace.org.uk/active
© Jiri Rezac / Greenpeace
© Dennis Gill
© Andy Bodycombe / Greenpeace
INTERNATIONAL
Above: A Greenpeace artist paints the manga of Junichi and Toru. Below: Wish ribbons saying ‘justice’ and ‘truth’ are tied to the trees.
Wishes for the Tokyo Two Willie Mackenzie, oceans campaign The two Japanese activists Junichi and Toru are still awaiting trial and facing imprisonment in Japan for their part in exposing the embezzlement of whale meat from the Japanese government’s whaling programme last year. So, Greenpeace volunteers paid another visit to the Japanese embassy in London last month. Having collected hundreds of messages of support for the Tokyo Two on Japanese ribbons, we tied the ribbons to two trees to create wishing trees. We then took these traditional Japanese symbols of hope to the embassy to present to the Japanese ambassador. Meanwhile, we recreated the story of the Tokyo Two in a giant manga style mural, opposite the embassy. This direct communication took place to tell the Japanese government that Junichi and Toru must receive genuine justice. This has become a politically motivated prosecution designed to distract attention from the real crime, the embezzlement of whale meat from a supposedly scientific whaling programme, but the world is now watching.
© Andy Bodycombe / Greenpeace
Thanks to all who helped by showing their support. We generated over 2,200 emails to the Japanese embassy calling for Justice for the Tokyo Two.
It will take about 2,000 people to form the human chain around the current power station at Kingsnorth in Kent.
A Big IF around Miliband Emma Gibson, climate campaign
‘The era of unabated coal is over’. This was the positive message from Climate and Energy Minister, Ed Miliband, on 23 April – the same day that he announced a review of UK coal policy. So, good news and a big success for coal campaigners. The review is due to begin in June and includes the following proposals: • Any new power station must capture the carbon from at least 400 megawatts of its electricity (for Kingsnorth, that represents about a quarter). • The technology of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) should be proven by 2020. • All new power stations must capture all of their carbon by 2025 if the technology is ready. Although these proposals are the initial steps towards a genuinely coherent climate and energy policy, they are still a long way from being assured. And as they stand, they are not nearly enough to safeguard the climate. Even with a quarter of its carbon captured, Kingsnorth would still emit around six million tonnes of carbon a year – more than the 25 least polluting countries combined. We now need to push the government to demand that all CO2 emissions from dirty coal plants like Kingsnorth are stopped from the very first day of operation. In order to achieve this, Greenpeace is getting involved with two different projects, alongside other organisations including Oxfam, RSPB, the World Development Movement and the Women’s Institute. First the Big IF will see individuals taking pledges. Each pledge will tell Ed Miliband what action each person will take if Ed gives the go-ahead to dirty coal at Kingsnorth. Secondly, for the Mili-Band, thousands of people will link hands around Kingsnorth in opposition to dirty coal.
GET ACTIVE! Join the Mili-Band on Saturday 4 July at Kingsnorth power station. Show Ed Miliband that we won’t go away until UK energy policy truly protects the climate. For more details and to book your place visit www.greenpeace.org.uk/miliband Bring your friends… we need 2,000 people to make the Mili-Band work!
© Jiri Rezac / Greenpeace
© Richard Martin / Greenpeace
SPOTLIGHT
The plants used by gardeners at the Chelsea Flower Show are usually destroyed. By replanting them in villages around the proposed third runway site at Heathrow, activists and local residents are highlighting the destruction airport expansion would cause.
Sebastian in the garden at Canonbury Villas.
Sipson… the new Chelsea?
Sebastian Seeney, Bethnal Green’s Network Coordinator is looking forward to working at Glastonbury again this year.
Anna Jones, climate campaign
The Airplot allotment launched at the beginning of May with celebrity guests and gardening experts. Richard Briers, the man who brought allotments to the attention of millions in 70s TV sensation The Good Life joined Gardeners World presenter, Alys Fowler and Garden Organic, to officially open the Airplot allotment. Richard Briers planted carrots, saying he would send one to each cabinet member every year until the ‘daft’ plans for expansion are dropped. Alys and Garden Organic planted two beautiful Bright Future apple trees, to symbolise a more sustainable future world. And B&Q, one of a growing number of major UK businesses publicly opposing the third runway, showed their support by donating all the equipment. Following this, on Bank Holiday Monday, we transported hundreds of plants from the Chelsea Flower Show to Heathrow villages, teaming up with top Chelsea garden designer Tom Hoblyn, guerrilla gardener Richard Reynolds, activists from Plane Stupid and local residents. Four beautiful guerrilla gardens sprung up in the sunshine, in colourful defiance of BAA’s plans. Local resident Linda described them as ‘symbols of the life and the resilience in our communities that will eventually defeat BAA and the government who have pushed this expansion.’ But it’s not only plants that have been growing. Resistance to the runway continues to increase. Over 45,000 people have now signed up to become beneficial owners of the Airplot, including around 50 MPs from all parties. As well as business leaders voicing their opposition, Sir Nicholas Stern, one of the government’s top advisors, indicated that he thought the the government had made the wrong decision on Heathrow. Speaking at the Hay Festival, he said the decision was not in line with the Government’s wider climate and transport policy.
GET ACTIVE! Write and ask your MP to become a beneficial owner of Airplot. Don’t forget to let your local network coordinator know if you get a response. Visit www.greenpeace.org.uk/airplotmp to write to your MP.
Contact your local gardening/allotment society. Ask them to twin their allotments with the Airplot allotment, give Airplot a mention in their newsletter or even send carrots to the cabinet to demand a stop to Heathrow expansion now.
How did you get involved with Greenpeace? I drifted in and out of involvement for a few years. Then, when I moved to London after university, I decided that I should get more permanently involved. So I joined my local network, which at the time was Islington, and have never looked back. Last year I became area networker for North East London and I’m now the area networker for Bethnal Green.
What have been the best moments? Getting people to sign up to Give Coal the Boot at festivals and London fairs last summer was great fun. People are so much more relaxed and up for talking in a festival environment. And, of course, everyone showed lots of enthusiasm when it came to making bootprints in paint. Glastonbury is always an annual highlight which I think everyone involved looks forward to.
What campaign success would you most like to see? I’d love to see an end to the government being obsessed with the idea of developing coal and nuclear. They need to realise that alternatives already exist and that this is where the time and money should be going.
What’s new with the Bethnal Green network? We’ll be celebrating our first year in August which is great. The first year has been really good, the network has been growing nicely and we’ve been pretty active. We’re all hoping that our second year will be even better. There’s so much enthusiasm within the network that I’m sure it will be!
Left to right: Brazilian nut trees – protected under Brazilian law – are burned to make way for soy or cattle farming / Espírito Santo Cattle Ranch, Pará State, Brazil / Nike trainers – an end product of illegal deforestation.
Slaughtering the Amazon Sarah Shoraka, forest campaign
Trainers, corned beef, handbags and car seats – not the usual daily preoccupations of a Greenpeace campaigner. But in the run up to the release of our new report, Slaughtering the Amazon, beef and leather products occupied most of the forest team’s time. Cattle ranching in the Amazon is the single biggest cause of deforestation worldwide. Slaughtering the Amazon, released on 1 June, exposes the culmination of a three year investigation into Brazil’s cattle industry. It reveals how farms involved in illegal deforestation, and in some cases slavery, lie at the beginning of supply chains from global brands including Tesco, Adidas/Reebok, Nike, Clarks, BMW, Ford, Honda and Gucci. Greenpeace is working to stop big brands from trading with companies linked to Amazon destruction. We need to stop the Amazon destruction for cattle as we did for soya.
GET ACTIVE! Write to the CEOs of leading shoe companies. Tell them their dependence on Amazon leather is contributing to large scale deforestation and causing global climate change, visit www.greenpeace.org/everystepcounts
Supermarkets changing their tuna Willie Mackenzie, oceans campaign
Last year’s tuna league table ranked major brands of tinned tuna on their environmental credentials. We called on retailers to move away from destructive and indiscriminate fishing methods and buy pole-and-line caught fish, supporting the least environmentally damaging way of catching tuna. UK retailers really stepped up to the challenge set by the league table. Sainsbury’s, already top, have now expanded their range of pole-and-line caught tuna. Their own brand tinned tuna is now 100% pole-and-line – including the basic range. Marks & Spencer are also switching to 100% pole-and-line and even more impressively are including all products that contain tuna such as sandwiches, salads and ready meals. As the second largest consumer of tinned tuna in the world, the UK can have a lot of influence in the environmental impact that this food cupboard staple brings.
© `centre for Alternative Technology
© Will Rose / Greenpeace
© Daniel Beltra / Greenpeace
© EVE and Greenpeace / Marizilda Cruppe
TALK TALK
CAT is an eco-centre built in an old slate quarry in the foothills of Snowdonia.
STREET CAMPAIGNING TRAINING London, Sunday 19 July. Are you new to local activism and want to campaign effectively on the streets? These workshops are just for you. Contact Richard (as below). GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL 26 – 28 June. If you’re coming along, check out the Greenpeace field, climb our Out of Control tower, enjoy the overgrown runway and relax in our departure lounge. To volunteer at next year’s Glastonbury, get active with your local group/network now. CAT (CENTRE FOR ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGY) SKILLSHARE WEEKEND 11 – 13 September. Relax and network at the 10th annual skillshare in beautiful mid-Wales. The weekend is open to all active supporters. Contact [email protected] Tel 01766 830444/07515 9145146
ACTIVE SUPPORTER NETWORK OVERVIEW Greenpeace’s active supporter network is made up of network coordinators, local networks and individual active supporters. Today we have 107 network coordinators, 93 networks and 23302 active supporters.
CONTACT DETAILS [email protected] Rachael King 020 7865 8174 [email protected] Jo Melzack (Scotland, North England & Northern Ireland) 0161 448 1929 [email protected] Malcolm Carroll (West) 020 7865 8172 [email protected] Richard Martin (South England) 020 7865 8178 [email protected]
Canonbury Villas London N1 2PN t 020 7865 8100 f 020 7865 8200 www.greenpeace.org.uk
June/July 2009
NEWS UPDATE: A Greenpeace direct communication tells Nobu to stop serving bluefin tuna Greenpeace activists visited London Nobu restaurants – part owned by Robert De Niro – to stop it serving bluefin tuna. Activists used bluefin silhouettes to ask celebrity diners on Nobu’s first floor restaurants to tell Nobu to take bluefin off the menu. Nobu knows that bluefin tuna is just as endangered as gorilla, rhino and tiger, yet is still serving the species. Clockwise from main picture: A Greenpeace activist greets diners with a spoof Nobu menu containing dishes made from other species that are as endangered as bluefin, eg Siberian Tiger, Gorilla and Polar Bear / Sugababe Amelle poses with Greenpeace activists, telling Nobu to take bluefin off the menu / Comedy actor Jack Black and friends enter the restaurant clutching a spoof menu / Clean graffiti – created by cleaning away dirt instead of painting over it – appears outside Nobu.
© Jiri Rezac / Greenpeace
© Dennis Gill
www.greenpeace.org.uk/active
© Jiri Rezac / Greenpeace
© Dennis Gill
© Andy Bodycombe / Greenpeace
INTERNATIONAL
Above: A Greenpeace artist paints the manga of Junichi and Toru. Below: Wish ribbons saying ‘justice’ and ‘truth’ are tied to the trees.
Wishes for the Tokyo Two Willie Mackenzie, oceans campaign The two Japanese activists Junichi and Toru are still awaiting trial and facing imprisonment in Japan for their part in exposing the embezzlement of whale meat from the Japanese government’s whaling programme last year. So, Greenpeace volunteers paid another visit to the Japanese embassy in London last month. Having collected hundreds of messages of support for the Tokyo Two on Japanese ribbons, we tied the ribbons to two trees to create wishing trees. We then took these traditional Japanese symbols of hope to the embassy to present to the Japanese ambassador. Meanwhile, we recreated the story of the Tokyo Two in a giant manga style mural, opposite the embassy. This direct communication took place to tell the Japanese government that Junichi and Toru must receive genuine justice. This has become a politically motivated prosecution designed to distract attention from the real crime, the embezzlement of whale meat from a supposedly scientific whaling programme, but the world is now watching.
© Andy Bodycombe / Greenpeace
Thanks to all who helped by showing their support. We generated over 2,200 emails to the Japanese embassy calling for Justice for the Tokyo Two.
It will take about 2,000 people to form the human chain around the current power station at Kingsnorth in Kent.
A Big IF around Miliband Emma Gibson, climate campaign
‘The era of unabated coal is over’. This was the positive message from Climate and Energy Minister, Ed Miliband, on 23 April – the same day that he announced a review of UK coal policy. So, good news and a big success for coal campaigners. The review is due to begin in June and includes the following proposals: • Any new power station must capture the carbon from at least 400 megawatts of its electricity (for Kingsnorth, that represents about a quarter). • The technology of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) should be proven by 2020. • All new power stations must capture all of their carbon by 2025 if the technology is ready. Although these proposals are the initial steps towards a genuinely coherent climate and energy policy, they are still a long way from being assured. And as they stand, they are not nearly enough to safeguard the climate. Even with a quarter of its carbon captured, Kingsnorth would still emit around six million tonnes of carbon a year – more than the 25 least polluting countries combined. We now need to push the government to demand that all CO2 emissions from dirty coal plants like Kingsnorth are stopped from the very first day of operation. In order to achieve this, Greenpeace is getting involved with two different projects, alongside other organisations including Oxfam, RSPB, the World Development Movement and the Women’s Institute. First the Big IF will see individuals taking pledges. Each pledge will tell Ed Miliband what action each person will take if Ed gives the go-ahead to dirty coal at Kingsnorth. Secondly, for the Mili-Band, thousands of people will link hands around Kingsnorth in opposition to dirty coal.
GET ACTIVE! Join the Mili-Band on Saturday 4 July at Kingsnorth power station. Show Ed Miliband that we won’t go away until UK energy policy truly protects the climate. For more details and to book your place visit www.greenpeace.org.uk/miliband Bring your friends… we need 2,000 people to make the Mili-Band work!
© Jiri Rezac / Greenpeace
© Richard Martin / Greenpeace
SPOTLIGHT
The plants used by gardeners at the Chelsea Flower Show are usually destroyed. By replanting them in villages around the proposed third runway site at Heathrow, activists and local residents are highlighting the destruction airport expansion would cause.
Sebastian in the garden at Canonbury Villas.
Sipson… the new Chelsea?
Sebastian Seeney, Bethnal Green’s Network Coordinator is looking forward to working at Glastonbury again this year.
Anna Jones, climate campaign
The Airplot allotment launched at the beginning of May with celebrity guests and gardening experts. Richard Briers, the man who brought allotments to the attention of millions in 70s TV sensation The Good Life joined Gardeners World presenter, Alys Fowler and Garden Organic, to officially open the Airplot allotment. Richard Briers planted carrots, saying he would send one to each cabinet member every year until the ‘daft’ plans for expansion are dropped. Alys and Garden Organic planted two beautiful Bright Future apple trees, to symbolise a more sustainable future world. And B&Q, one of a growing number of major UK businesses publicly opposing the third runway, showed their support by donating all the equipment. Following this, on Bank Holiday Monday, we transported hundreds of plants from the Chelsea Flower Show to Heathrow villages, teaming up with top Chelsea garden designer Tom Hoblyn, guerrilla gardener Richard Reynolds, activists from Plane Stupid and local residents. Four beautiful guerrilla gardens sprung up in the sunshine, in colourful defiance of BAA’s plans. Local resident Linda described them as ‘symbols of the life and the resilience in our communities that will eventually defeat BAA and the government who have pushed this expansion.’ But it’s not only plants that have been growing. Resistance to the runway continues to increase. Over 45,000 people have now signed up to become beneficial owners of the Airplot, including around 50 MPs from all parties. As well as business leaders voicing their opposition, Sir Nicholas Stern, one of the government’s top advisors, indicated that he thought the the government had made the wrong decision on Heathrow. Speaking at the Hay Festival, he said the decision was not in line with the Government’s wider climate and transport policy.
GET ACTIVE! Write and ask your MP to become a beneficial owner of Airplot. Don’t forget to let your local network coordinator know if you get a response. Visit www.greenpeace.org.uk/airplotmp to write to your MP.
Contact your local gardening/allotment society. Ask them to twin their allotments with the Airplot allotment, give Airplot a mention in their newsletter or even send carrots to the cabinet to demand a stop to Heathrow expansion now.
How did you get involved with Greenpeace? I drifted in and out of involvement for a few years. Then, when I moved to London after university, I decided that I should get more permanently involved. So I joined my local network, which at the time was Islington, and have never looked back. Last year I became area networker for North East London and I’m now the area networker for Bethnal Green.
What have been the best moments? Getting people to sign up to Give Coal the Boot at festivals and London fairs last summer was great fun. People are so much more relaxed and up for talking in a festival environment. And, of course, everyone showed lots of enthusiasm when it came to making bootprints in paint. Glastonbury is always an annual highlight which I think everyone involved looks forward to.
What campaign success would you most like to see? I’d love to see an end to the government being obsessed with the idea of developing coal and nuclear. They need to realise that alternatives already exist and that this is where the time and money should be going.
What’s new with the Bethnal Green network? We’ll be celebrating our first year in August which is great. The first year has been really good, the network has been growing nicely and we’ve been pretty active. We’re all hoping that our second year will be even better. There’s so much enthusiasm within the network that I’m sure it will be!
Left to right: Brazilian nut trees – protected under Brazilian law – are burned to make way for soy or cattle farming / Espírito Santo Cattle Ranch, Pará State, Brazil / Nike trainers – an end product of illegal deforestation.
Slaughtering the Amazon Sarah Shoraka, forest campaign
Trainers, corned beef, handbags and car seats – not the usual daily preoccupations of a Greenpeace campaigner. But in the run up to the release of our new report, Slaughtering the Amazon, beef and leather products occupied most of the forest team’s time. Cattle ranching in the Amazon is the single biggest cause of deforestation worldwide. Slaughtering the Amazon, released on 1 June, exposes the culmination of a three year investigation into Brazil’s cattle industry. It reveals how farms involved in illegal deforestation, and in some cases slavery, lie at the beginning of supply chains from global brands including Tesco, Adidas/Reebok, Nike, Clarks, BMW, Ford, Honda and Gucci. Greenpeace is working to stop big brands from trading with companies linked to Amazon destruction. We need to stop the Amazon destruction for cattle as we did for soya.
GET ACTIVE! Write to the CEOs of leading shoe companies. Tell them their dependence on Amazon leather is contributing to large scale deforestation and causing global climate change, visit www.greenpeace.org/everystepcounts
Supermarkets changing their tuna Willie Mackenzie, oceans campaign
Last year’s tuna league table ranked major brands of tinned tuna on their environmental credentials. We called on retailers to move away from destructive and indiscriminate fishing methods and buy pole-and-line caught fish, supporting the least environmentally damaging way of catching tuna. UK retailers really stepped up to the challenge set by the league table. Sainsbury’s, already top, have now expanded their range of pole-and-line caught tuna. Their own brand tinned tuna is now 100% pole-and-line – including the basic range. Marks & Spencer are also switching to 100% pole-and-line and even more impressively are including all products that contain tuna such as sandwiches, salads and ready meals. As the second largest consumer of tinned tuna in the world, the UK can have a lot of influence in the environmental impact that this food cupboard staple brings.
© `centre for Alternative Technology
© Will Rose / Greenpeace
© Daniel Beltra / Greenpeace
© EVE and Greenpeace / Marizilda Cruppe
TALK TALK
CAT is an eco-centre built in an old slate quarry in the foothills of Snowdonia.
STREET CAMPAIGNING TRAINING London, Sunday 19 July. Are you new to local activism and want to campaign effectively on the streets? These workshops are just for you. Contact Richard (as below). GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL 26 – 28 June. If you’re coming along, check out the Greenpeace field, climb our Out of Control tower, enjoy the overgrown runway and relax in our departure lounge. To volunteer at next year’s Glastonbury, get active with your local group/network now. CAT (CENTRE FOR ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGY) SKILLSHARE WEEKEND 11 – 13 September. Relax and network at the 10th annual skillshare in beautiful mid-Wales. The weekend is open to all active supporters. Contact [email protected] Tel 01766 830444/07515 9145146
ACTIVE SUPPORTER NETWORK OVERVIEW Greenpeace’s active supporter network is made up of network coordinators, local networks and individual active supporters. Today we have 107 network coordinators, 93 networks and 23302 active supporters.
CONTACT DETAILS [email protected] Rachael King 020 7865 8174 [email protected] Jo Melzack (Scotland, North England & Northern Ireland) 0161 448 1929 [email protected] Malcolm Carroll (West) 020 7865 8172 [email protected] Richard Martin (South England) 020 7865 8178 [email protected]
Canonbury Villas London N1 2PN t 020 7865 8100 f 020 7865 8200 www.greenpeace.org.uk
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