03
July 2008 - Brussels, Belgium — Illegal
logging often happens in far-off places
that are all too easily ignored. That's
why we have brought the problem to the heart
of Europe - with a 12-metre Amazon tree
trunk placed in Brussels to highlight the
role of Europe in fuelling the destruction
of the world's rainforests.
Acclaimed Brazilian
artist Siron Franco has installed nine video
monitors into the trunk of an Amazon tree
that comes from an area in Brazil where
illegal logging is rampant. The tree has
been placed outside the European Commission's
headquarters and contrasts images of the
natural beauty of the rainforest with the
ongoing destruction caused by illegal logging.
The installation is
part of our ongoing campaign to force the
EU to introduce a new timber law. This would
see a long overdue ban on illegal timber
being sold in the EU.
EU Environment Commissioner,
Stavros Dimas, and other EU politicians
are planning to visit the tree, where our
activists will present them with a plywood
postcard reading: 'Stop the chainsaw massacre!
Adopt EU timber law now' to remind them
why it is vital to protect the world's last
remaining rainforests.
At the moment, Europe
buys millions of tonnes of timber from areas
such as the Amazon, South East Asia and
the Congo, where illegal and destructive
logging is rampant. As a result, customers
in Europe, buying products like garden furniture,
paper tissues, and construction materials,
are unwitting accomplices in the destruction
of the world's forests.
For the last five years,
the EU has been promising to introduce new
laws against illegally harvested timber,
but those companies profiteering from illegal
logging have been obstructing the efforts
being made by the European Commission. However,
on July 23, the European Commission will
finally vote on whether to adopt a new law.
The fact is that the
European Commission hasn't got much choice
if it is serious about tackling climate
change. We urgently need to stop destroying
the world's forests. Practices such as illegal
and destructive logging drive deforestation,
which in turns leads to the dramatic loss
of species and accounts for one fifth of
global greenhouse gas emissions.
Of course, our supporters
have been instrumental in making sure that
the issue hasn't fallen off of the Commission's
agenda. Since June 17, over 65,000 letters
have been sent to the EU President, José
Manuel Barroso. Progressive companies working
in the timber industry have also been pushing
for the new law - they are suffering at
the hands of rogue businesses involved in
illegal and destructive logging who undercut
prices, make sustainable wood less competitive
and harm the industry as a whole.
The EU already has strict
controls on illegal music, software and
films. It's high time timber stolen from
the world's last rainforests was just as
strictly controlled as pirate CDs.
+ More
Greenpeace blockades
Australian coal-fired power station
03 July 2008 - New South
Wales, Australia — Greenpeace activists,
including an ex-miner from the Hunter Valley,
blockaded Australia's most polluting coal-fired
power station to call for an Energy [R]evolution.
Entering the plant in the early hours of
the morning, 16 activists were able to lock
themselves to the conveyors that distribute
the coal.
By the time the last
activists had been removed from the site,
coal supply had been halted for about five
hours - for every hour supply was stopped,
we prevented 2000 tonnes of CO2 from being
released.
Now it's Australian
prime minister Kevin Rudd's turn to act
on climate change and energy. Greenpeace's
Australian supporters are being asked to
sign a petition urging Rudd to commit to
phasing out dirty coal and building a clean,
safe and reliable energy future for Australia.
Why Eraring power station?
Greenpeace Australia-Pacific's climate and
energy campaigner, Simon Roz, explains.
We have to stop fuelling
climate change when creating electricity.
Eraring is old and inefficient - it's Australia's
dirtiest coal-fired power plant, sending
nearly 20 million tonnes of greenhouse pollution
into the atmosphere every year. It's one
of the eight coal-fired power stations in
New South Wales responsible for half the
state's and 13% of Australia's greenhouse
pollution."
Among the activists
blockading the coal conveyor was Graham
Brown, a retired Hunter Valley coal miner.
He said, "I feel very strongly that
we must start making the transition from
coal-power to renewable energy. Coal communities
have been taken advantage of by coal companies
and governments. Renewable energy is the
future, and it's bright. Workers must be
retrained and re-skilled so that they don't
miss out."
"Renewable technology
is already there, we don't have to wait
20 years for it - but we need a transition
mechanism in place."
The action came in advance
of Australian government's climate change
advisor, Professor Ross Garnaut, delivering
his draft review on climate change. Any
urgent action to be taken on climate change
must include policies that support renewables
to replace dirty coal-fired power.
As Simon Roz says, "Renewable
energy can replace coal-fired power and
would be a huge step forward in reducing
emissions in line with Professor Garnaut's
recommendations."
The Energy [R]evolution
Australia is just the latest of many countries
in which Greenpeace has released national
Energy [R]evolution reports showing how
renewables combined with energy efficiency,
can provide all of that country's energy
needs.
Greenpeace released
its global Energy [R]evolution scenario
in 2007. The scenario shows how renewables
can replace coal by 2030.
+ More
Global protest over
arrest of Japanese whale activists (Updated)
30 June 2008 - International
— Global protest continues to mount with
protests and vigils in front of Japanese
embassies around the world and more than
180,000 190,000 200,000 letters being sent
to the Japanese government demanding the
release of Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki
-- the Tokyo Two.
A network of Japanese
lawyers have called the arrests a violation
of human rights and a challenge to the freedom
of expression in Japan.
Print Send to a friend Junichi and Toru
have been under arrest since the 20th of
June, held without charge. On Tuesday, July
1st, a hearing will be held on whether they
will be detained for a further ten days
without charge.
UPDATE July 1, 2008:
The court has ruled Junichi and Toru will
spend the maximum time in custody without
charge permissible under Japanese law -
23 days.
In a message to supporters,
sent via their lawyers, Junichi and Toru
welcomed the outporing of efforts from people
all over the world, adding: "We still
need your help. We have been ordered to
remain in custody for ten more days without
charge. Please encourage your friends to
send an email to the Japanese government,
if they have not already. Keep watching
for news from Greenpeace of more actions
you can take and make sure that the global
demand to investigate the whale meat scandal
we exposed is heard loud and clear here
in Japan."Junichi and Toru exposed
a whale-meat embezzlement scandal on May
15th by presenting a box of whale meat stolen
by crew of Japan's so-called "scientific
whaling" fleet, to the Tokyo Public
Prosecutor along with a dossier documenting
how they obtained it. The scam, in which
prime cuts of whale meat are smuggled off
the ship by crewmembers and sold outside
official channels, appears to have been
running for years with the full awareness
of the officials that conduct the whaling
expeditions.
The Japanese whaling
programme is funded by taxpayers, at a cost
of 500 million yen a year (4.7 million)
The Prosecutor's office
took up an investigation, but concluded
there was insufficient evidence to pursue
charges against any of the crew or whaling
officials. The only consequences in the
case were for the Greenpeace activists,
who intercepted a box of meat as evidence,
and were arrested in dramatic raids on their
homes and offices, conducted by around 40
police officers in front of television cameras.
The police seized documents, computers,
cell phones, and the Greenpeace Japan supporter
list.
"The response by the Japanese authorities
can only be described as
excessive, unjust and politically motivated...
Rather than trying to silence those who
point out corruption, the police should
be investigating the government officials,
whaling fleet operators and staff who smuggle
whale meat from the so-called scientific
programme funded by Japanese taxpayers and
sell it for profit. This and the ongoing
whaling operation in the Southern Ocean
Whale Sanctuary is where the forces of justice
should be focussed."
Gerd Leipold, Executive
Director, Greenpeace International
Other voices in Japan
are saying that the arrest was a warning
to other activist groups that as the G8
approaches, voices of dissent in Japan will
not be tolerated.
Kyodo Reported:
While he disagrees with
Greenpeace's anti-whaling stance, journalist
Takao Saito said the way the police arrested
the two men and the way they investigated
the group was heavy-handed.
"(Greenpeace) is
functioning as a whistleblower in our society
so the authorities should give them a fair
hearing to what they have to say."
WATCH, a network of
laywers keeping an eye on human rights in
Japan in the run up to the G8, issued a
statement saying
"The arrest of
the two activists is not only a human rights
violation with regard to the unjustifiable
arrest, detention and investigation, but
also a challenge against the freedom of
expression. Police repression against the
activists' denunciation obstructs the legitimate
activities of both Japanese civil society
and international society and is therefore
internationally unacceptable and subject
to global criticism as an affront to humanity."
