22
December 2008 - International — Quit coal
– save the climate. It's a simple message,
but it's also an urgent one. Coal, the dirtiest
of all fossil fuels is the single greatest
contributor to the climate crisis. In 2008,
we've been taking the "quit coal"
message across the world, the campaign has
been spearheaded by our flagship the Rainbow
Warrior.
From landmark court
rulings, to cancellation of plans for coal-fired
plants, to senior politicians joining our
call, we’ve made it clear that if we are
to get serious about tackling climate change,
then the world needs to quit its addiction
to coal.
From New Zealand to
Denmark we’ve occupied coal mines and power
plants, blockaded coal cargo ships and carriers,
and branded all things coal as serial climate
offenders – this includes a valiant effort
by our Australian office who painted 20
coal cargo ships in one go.
We've shown clean energy
alternatives along the way
We’ve always shown the
clean energy alternatives that are possible
along the way; even planting 4000 windmills
on a proposed coal-fired power plant site
in Belgium. And in the EU and New Zealand
we have seen some good movement on renewable
energy targets.
Our Energy [R]evolution
scenario shows how renewable energy, combined
with greater energy efficiency, can cut
global CO2 emissions by 50 percent, and
deliver half the world's energy needs by
2050. It quickly convinced an energy company
to scrap its plans for a new coal-fired
plant in Greece, where our “quit coal” campaign
also led to Greece’s main opposition parties
agreeing on board the Rainbow Warrior to
reject coal if they get into power next
year. Meanwhile coal plants in the Netherlands
have been scrapped in 2008 too.
In Southeast Asia senior
politicians in the Philippines were moved
by the “quit coal” tour to publicly support
our demands, including filing resolution
in the Senate calling for the Philippines
to quit coal and embrace a clean energy
future. Later in the year the Senate approved
a progressive Renewable Energy bill, something
that had been pending for 18 years, and
that Greenpeace Southeast Asia had been
actively campaigning for.
The Kingsnorth Six and
the true cost of coal
We’ve had court cases
against us thrown out in Italy, and in September
our UK office made history when they were
found “not guilty” of causing criminal damage
to the smokestack of the Kingsnorth coal-fired
power station they painted in 2007. Their
defence was simple, they had “lawful excuse”
because they were acting to protect property
around the world “in immediate need of protection”
from the impacts of climate change, caused
in part by the burning of coal. They won
the case, featured as one of the New York
Times’ big ideas of 2008.
Meanwhile we’ve revealed
the true cost of coal – showing how its
market price ignores not just the costs
of climate change, but also displacement,
black lung disease, acid rain, mining accidents,
smog pollution, reduced agricultural yields,
water pollution and much, much more. Our
report highlighting these impacts from Colombia
to India to the United States was released
in November.
The Climate Rescue Station
and Poznan
In December, with the
ship tour still active, we set up a Climate
Rescue Station on the edge of an open pit
coal mine in Konin, Poland. At the centre
of the rescue station we built a four-storey
version of the Earth that housed photographic
exhibitions, conferences, open days and
meetings with journalists from across the
world. The rescue station's position on
the edge of the mine depicted how coal has
driven our planet to the edge.
The rescue station operated
in the run up to and through crucial UN
climate negotiations in Poznan, Poland.
Our activists joined
hundreds of local people including town
mayors, threatened by the expansion of the
pit mine, to call for an energy revolution
in Poland. Our German and Czech Republic
teams held solidarity actions over the course
of the month. These countries, alongside
Poland are home to the notorious “black
triangle” – one of the most heavily polluted
areas on Earth, thanks to coal.
Back in Poland a team
of climbers in Poland occupied the smokestack
of the Patnów coal-fired power plant
for three days as government ministers from
across the world debated the future of the
planet at the nearby Poznan negotiations.
Simultaneous to that action, the Rainbow
Warrior was blocking a coal shipment in
Denmark, where next year the world’s most
important climate negotiations ever will
take place.
The road to Copenhagen
So as 2008 wraps up,
we thought we would bring you a slideshow
of highlights from the past year. Of course,
we still have a long way to go. That’s why
in 2009 we will ramp up the pressure - ensuring
that the “quit coal” message gets through
to governments meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark
in December 2009. Watch this space.
