Lesley

I am from New Zealand. I have been a nurse for longer than I care to remember and ran away to sea relatively late in life I suppose. The chance to work on the Greenpeace ships came up and I grabbed it, I think it is probably the best decision I have ever made.

In the past two and a half years I’ve sailed on all of the Greenpeace ships and have seen many parts of the world – The Pacific, the Arctic, the Arabian Gulf, South America, the Southern and Atlantic Oceans.

In that time I have been part of many of Greenpeace’s campaigns – climate change, pirate fishing, nuclear disarmament, the World Trade Organisation and the madness of the plutonium shipments that are sailed around the world. They pass through my home waters of the Pacific.

I am really glad I am here in South Africa, because so many of those issues come together here. We are even seeing a plutonium shipment pass by right now.

If I had five minutes in a room with the world leaders that will be here, I would simply tell them that if they are serious about trying to prevent humanity from destroying our environment, our very planet, then they need to act NOW, not make promises at some vague point in the future.

I hope they read this and I hope they start thinking about the future generations who will inherit this earth and not just the political and corporate interests of a few who are here now.