Case Study 2 - Greenpeace

Many social movements of different kinds are resisting the development of Green Crimes. Perhaps the most famous of these is Greenpeace, which started its campaigning against environmental degradation in 1971. Today, it is an international organisation (an NGO) that prioritizes global environmental campaigns. It is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and has 2.8 million supporters world wide, with national as well as regional offices in 41 countries.

It started life when a boat of volunteers and journalists sailed to Amchitka, an island north of Alaska where the US Government was conducting underground nuclear tests. Amchitka was the last refuge for 3000 endangered sea otters, and home to bald eagles, peregrine falcons and other wildlife. Even though their old boat, the Phyllis Cormack, was intercepted before it got to Amchitka, the journey sparked a flurry of public interest. Although the US still detonated the bomb, the voice of reason had been heard. Nuclear testing on Amchitka ended that same year, and the island was later declared a bird sanctuary.

In over a thirty-year history of campaigns, one of its most famous has been the battle against French nuclear testing. In June 1995, the French government resumed nuclear testing in the South Pacific and Greenpeace immediately resumed campaigning against it. 5 million people signed a petition, demos were organised across the world, and on-the-spot boats linked to the latest communications (Rainbow Warrior) made major protests.

This tradition of ‘bearing witness’ in a non-violent manner continues today, and the ships are an important part of all their campaign work. Key Greenpeace campaigns today include those to:

--Stop climate change
--Protect ancient forests
--Save the oceans
--Stop whaling
--Say no to genetic engineering
--Stop the nuclear threat
--Eliminate toxic chemicals
--Encourage sustainable trade

As Greenpeace declare on their website:

• We exist to expose environmental criminals, and to challenge governments and corporations when they fail to live up to their mandate to safeguard our environment and our future.
• In pursuing our mission, we have no permanent allies or enemies. We promote open, informed debate about society's environmental choices. We use research, lobbying, and quiet diplomacy to pursue our goals, as well as high-profile, non-violent conflict to raise the level and quality of public debate.
• And we believe that the struggle to preserve the future of our planet is not about us. It's about you. Greenpeace speaks for 2.8 million supporters worldwide, and encourages many millions more than that to take action every day.
• We take the name of our flagship, the Rainbow Warrior, from a North American Cree Indian legend. It described a time when humanity's greed has made the Earth sick. At that time, a tribe of people known as the Warriors of the Rainbow would rise up to defend her.
• As one of the longest banners we've ever made summed things up, "When the last tree is cut, the last river poisoned, and the last fish dead, we will discover that we can't eat money."

For more information: go to http://www.greenpeace.org/aboutus/
More specifically: On history, check out the Time Machine at Greenpeace USA.
To find out more about the founders of Greenpeace, visit the Greenpeace Australia website.
Visit the Campaigns section for up to date information about what Greenpeace is doing now.