The time is now. With the northern summer as the backdrop, Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise and the Esperanza cast off this week and set sail for the Arctic.
Leaving a little later than the Shell boats and carrying a very diffent type of cargo, the Arctic Sunrise and the Esperanza forge ahead with hope and passion. Instead of powerful drilling equipement, the boats carry scientifique tools designed to better understand and document the degradation of the Arctic ice. The crew holds a different set of credentials; instead of oil and petrolium experts and engineers, they are researchers, young women who have decided to save the Arctic and dedicated activists who recognize that the protection of this beautiful untouched landscape represents the greatest environmental battle of the XXI century.
Baptised as the “Motley Crew”, the crew includes people from every habitable continent, including two Girl Guides- Miryam Justo from Peru and Yvette Sena Blankson from Ghana- and Chinese pop singer Hu Haiquan. Fred Lam, a popular social activist from Hong Kong is also aboard.
As you are probaby aware, on June 21 at Rio+20, Greenpeace launched its global campaign calling for a global sanctuary to be declared around the uninhabited area of the North Pole and to call on the United Nations to ensure that any and all industrial activities are banished forever from the Arctic Ocean.
Greenpeace is working towards collecting one million signatures from around the world. We will then plant on the seabed at the North Pole, 4km beneath the ice, an Arctic Scroll containing the first one million names as a testament to the universal support to preserve the Arctic for future generations. Things are looking up, as signatures are already coming in at an incredible pace.
Last week, I had the amazing experience of being at Rio de Janeiro to help launch our Save the Arctic campaign. At the end of my six days of intense work, I was invited aboard the famous Rainbow Warrior. Anchored at the dock surrounded by the crystal aquamarine water, the ship stood to highlight Greenpeace’s presence at Rio+20. Our friends at Greenpeace Brazil organized a huge party to celebrate their 20th anniversary.
Words cannot express how moving this was for me. It was incredible to think that having only been with Greenpeace for less than two months, I was now walking across the bridge towards the stern of this symbolic boat. The huge masts were decorated with tiny little red lights climbing towards Rio’s star-studded sky. As I watched them raise the masts, I pictured these same mast beings being raised in action and the many women and men before me who have set sail on the seas to protect our planet from further destruction.
The women and the men aboard the Arctic Sunrise and the Esperanza are embarquing today on this exact same mission.
And for this, we support them.