STATEMENT BY GREENPEACE’S GLOBAL LEADERSHIP FOR THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BOMBING OF HIROSHINA & NAGASAKI

06/08/2005 - On this anniversary which reminds us about war and the horror war brings, Greenpeace - once again - commits itself to creating peace.
We envision a world where the kind of death and destruction caused in Hiroshima and Nagasaki can never happen again. We envision a future where there is no fear of nuclear weapons and their destructive power. We envision a future where terrible conflict provoked by the very existence of nuclear weapons has been totally eliminated. To honour those who died as a result of nuclear weapons unleashed in Japan, we must all work together to create this world.
From every corner of the planet, across 40 countries and representing 2.8 million supporters, Greenpeace sends its solemn promise that it will continue fighting for peace. Today we also delivered messages of peace from citizens around the world and the point is crystal clear: to create lasting peace all nations must eliminate all their nuclear weapons - as well as the dangerous materials and technologies used to create them.
Read the messages of peace flown in Hiroshima.
This double imperative is more urgent than ever. Since the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, eight other nations have acquired nuclear weapons. Meanwhile countries like Japan intend to produce nuclear weapons useable material. But it's not too late to take action.
The first step is up to leaders of nuclear weapons states. They must lead by example and honour past promises to eliminate their nuclear arsenals. They must stop using nuclear weapons as a threatening tool - a tool to prop up self-interested world views which fail to recognise how the fates all nations and all peoples are inextricably intertwined. Next month at the Millennium Summit Review, leaders of Nuclear Weapons States will have the opportunity to set aside self-interest in favour of the common good. What the world's people expect from this meeting is that negotiations start for nuclear disarmament - negotiations that start NOW.
The responsibility falls not just on nuclear weapons states. Leaders of countries like Japan which intend to produce dangerous nuclear weapons usable material must immediately abandon their plans. As long as deadly substances like plutonium are produced, the threat of nuclear weapons proliferation exists. By pursuing a plan that will create eight tonnes of nuclear weapons material Japan also dramatically weakens its own call for nuclear disarmament.
It was 34 years ago that 12 activists sailed their ship into the heart of the US nuclear weapons test zone. The memory of lives lost in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki propelled them forward. Greenpeace will continue remembering those lost lives. But we will also focus on the world we want to create: one where people from all over the planet unite in common cause for our common good. With their messages sent from all over the world to Hiroshima today, that's exactly what people did today. Will their leaders follow?
Signed by
Gerd Leipold
International Executive Director
Martin Prieto, Executive Director, Greenpeace Argentina
Peter Mullins, Executive Director, Greenpeace Australia / Pacific
Peter De Smet, Executive Director, Greenpeace Belgium
Frank Guggenheim, Executive Director, Greenpeace Brazil
Bruce Cox, Executive Director, Greenpeace Canada
Bernhard Drumel, Executive Director, Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe
Gonzalo Villarino, Executive Director, Greenpeace Chile
Howard Liu, Executive Director, Greenpeace China
Jiri Tutter, Executive Director, Greenpeace Czech Republic
Pascal Husting, Executive Director, Greenpeace France
Brigitte Behrens, Executive Director, Greenpeace Germany
Nikos Charlambides, Executive Director, Greenpeace Greece
Ananthapadmanabhan (Ananth), Executive Director, Greenpeace India
Donatella Massai, Executive Director, Greenpeace Italy
Steve Shallhorn, Interim Executive Director, Greenpeace Japan
Paul Delaunois, Executive Director, Greenpeace Luxembourg
Ahmet Bektas, Executive Director, Greenpeace Mediterranean
Alejandro Calvillo, Executive Director, Greenpeace Mexico
Liesbeth van Tongeren, Executive Director, Greenpeace Netherlands
Margaret Crozier, Executive Director, Greenpeace New Zealand
Lennart Daleus, Executive Director, Greenpeace Nordic
Serguei Tsyplenkov, Executive Director, Greenpeace Russia
Sanae Shida, Interim Executive Director, Greenpeace South East Asia
Juantxo Lopez de Uralde, Executive Director, Greenpeace Spain
Kaspar Schuler, Executive Director, Greenpeace Switzerland
Stephen Tindale, Executive Director, Greenpeace UK
John Passacantando, Executive Director, Greenpeace USA