Our campaigns

We have three main campaigns in Africa: tackling climate change, stopping the looting of the continent’s fish and saving the forests.

Tackling climate change 

Let’s not beat about the bush. All these threats are serious, but climate change might just be the biggest threat mankind has ever faced, particularly in Africa. Africans aren’t responsible for climate change; the industrial nations are the worst offenders. But it is Africans who will pay the steepest price.

The energy sector is the worst offender, creating almost 66 percent of all greenhouse gases. Yet in South Africa, where the government is faced with a major energy supply problem, their answer seems to be the building of more coal-fired energy stations, a 'solution' which only serves to worsen the problem.

Greenpeace is locked in a desperate struggle to change people’s minds, especially the minds of the country’s leaders. We need to change the view that nuclear power is a cheap and effective solution to our energy problems -- it's not. We want to start a revolution in the thinking around energy, promoting the use of renewable energy sources, and saving the continent and creating jobs in the process.

Find out more about the climate campaign

 

Saving the forests

In central Africa, the rainforests in the Congo Basin provide the livelihood for 40 million people. These communities depend on the forests for their food, their medicines, as well as the materials used to build their homes. Additionally, this region is home to 270 species of mammals, among them the endangered gorillas, Bonobo and chimpanzees. The okapi and forest elephant are just two of the 39 species of animals found only here. These forests aren’t being protected for the people living here, they’re being destroyed.

Now Greenpeace is working locally and internationally to protect this special environment before it is too late. Called 'Forests for Climate', the initiative will teach the world how it can make financial sense to leave the forests as they are, rather than chopping them up forever.

Find out more about the forest campaign

 

Protecting our oceans and their ressources

Off the west coast of Africa, the battleground is underwater. African governments have been selling the right to fish in their waters to hi-tech, foreign industrial fleets. The hope is that increased fish production will help local economies by providing more jobs, more money and more food.

However, in the almost total absence of monitoring, control, surveillance and management plans, too many fish are taken from African waters.

Over-fishing is emptying the seas faster than nature can replenish it, threatening the food security of hundreds of millions of people.

Greenpeace is campaigning to stop the theft of fish from African seas and to develop viable alternatives to overfishing, that will help develop a sustainable, locally operated and financed fishing industry. 

Find out more about the oceans campaign

 

Get involved with our campaigns today.

The latest updates

 

You say you want a [R]evolution...

Blog entry by bex | September 11, 2010

We're looking for people from all over the world to send a message to President Obama that we support his dream of a clean energy revolution. How? By singing. Juliette explains,  on Greenpeace International's Climate Rescue blog : ...

Greenpeace activists occupy Arctic oil rig

Feature story | August 31, 2010 at 12:56

Our activists are suspended 15 meters above the frigid Arctic waters of Baffin Bay. They have taken up position on the drilling rig Stena Don to call for a ban on deep sea oil drilling in the Arctic, and demand that ‘wild cat’ oil company Cairn...

Kumi Naidoo: Tar Sands: is this the real Canada?

Blog entry by bex | August 30, 2010

Greenpeace International's Executive Director, Kumi Naidoo, recently visited the tar sands  of Northern Alberta, Canada. The tar sands are one of the largest remaining deposits of oil in the world. Developing the tar sands has created...

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