|
|
|
Greenpeace
is an independent campaigning organisation that uses non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems and to force solutions which are essential to a green and peaceful future.
|
|
future
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.
It's hard to imagine that from such small, even disorganised, beginnings,
Greenpeace has become an organisation 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 people's 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.
Our activists have been jailed, our 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, can you start to
realise the impact it has made.
For instance, how many of the world's whales would have been hunted
to extinction? How much greater would be the risk from atmospheric nuclear
weapons testing, nuclear fuel shipments, toxic wastes or ozone-depleting
CFCs? Would the Antarctic have the protection it enjoys today without
the campaign Greenpeace launched in the 1980s? Would the nuclear industry
still be dumping their radioactive waste in the high seas? Would the
rich nations have accepted the ban on the export of hazardous wastes
to developing countries? It is hard to say with certainty, but all these
issues Greenpeace has campaigned with a determination, conviction and
vigour which is helping to guide the world to a more sustainable, environment-friendly
future.
More »
|
|
Click on image to view
in larger format.
We organise public campaigns for the protection
of oceans and ancient forests, for the phasing-out of fossil fuels
and the promotion of renewable energies.
We campaign for the elimination of toxic chemicals,
for nuclear disarmament and an end to nuclear contamination, and
against the release of genetically modified organisms into nature.
|
|
|
|
