FAQ

Greenpeace’s goal is to ensure the ability of the earth to nurture life in all its diversity. Greenpeace campaigns are geared towards a sustainable planet.

Greenpeace opposes all releases of genetically Engineered organisms into the environment. Such organisms are being released without adequate scientific understanding of their impact on the environment and human health.This genetic pollution is a major threat because genetically engineered organisms cannot be recalled once released into the environment.

Governments are attempting to address this threat by international regulations such as the Biosafety Protocol.Because of commercial interests, the public is being denied the right to know about genetically engineered ingredients in the food chain, and the right to avoid them. Greenpeace advocates immediate interim measures such aslabelling of genetically engineered ingredients, and the segregation of genetically engineered crops from conventional ones.

While scientific progresson molecular biology has a great potential to increase our understanding of nature and provide new medical tools,it is no justification to turn the environment into a genetic experiment. Biological diversity must be protected and respected as the global heritage of humankind, and one of our world’s fundamental keys to survival.Greenpeace also opposes all patents on plants, animalsand humans,as well as patents on their genes.

Life is not an industrial commodity.When we force lifeforms and our world’s food supply to conform to human economic models rather than their natural ones, we do so at our own peril.You can read an introduction to the issue of genetic engineering and an explanation of some of the risks in our genetic engineering area.

Nuclear power creates poisonous waste, fuels the nuclear arms race, and threatens the health and well being of communities thousands of miles away.It’s also not a solution to greenhouse warming. Creating nuclear fuel is a hugely energy-intensive task. When you sum up the CO2 emitted by the mining, milling, processing, and transport of nuclear fuels,there’s no significant savings on carbon output. This was why the framers of the Kyoto protocol rejected efforts by the nuclear power industry to allow carbon credits for nuclear power. You’ll still see this fallacy trumpeted in advertising by the nuclear industry, but you won’t find a reputable climate scientist who is convinced by the ads. (British Nuclear Fuels spends more on advertising than Greenpeace’s entire annual budget, by the way!)

Greenpeace is an independent, campaigning organisation which uses non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems, and to force the solutions which are essential to a green and peaceful future.
You can find out more about our history, at our 30th Anniversary page.
If you want to read more, there are several good books about Greenpeace: “The Warriors of the Rainbow” by Robert Hunter, “Journey into the Bomb” by David McTaggart, and “The Greenpeace Story” by John May and Michael Brown. They can often be found at used book and auction sites such as Ebay, Amazon and Powells.

In 1971, motivated by their vision of a green and peaceful world, a small team of activists set sail from Vancouver, Canada, in an old fishing boat.
The founders of Greenpeace believed a few individuals could make a difference. Their mission was to “bear witness” to the USA’s underground nuclear testing at Amchitka in one of the world’s most earthquake-prone regions.A tiny island off the West Coast of Alaska, 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 she got to Amchitka, the journey sparked a flurry of public interest. The US still detonated their bomb, but the voice of reason had been heard.Nuclear testing on Amchitka ended that same year, and the island was later declared a bird sanctuary.Today, Greenpeace is a global organisation that gives priority to campaigns that can be addressed on a global scale. Based in Amsterdam,Greenpeace has 2.8 million supporters worldwide, and national / regional offices in 41 countries.

here’s an old joke around the organisation that in any bar in Vancouver, Canada, you can find at least one person who claims to have founded Greenpeace. In truth, many talented folks contributed to the creation of Greenpeace. Bill Darnell coined the name when someone flashed him a peace sign and he said< “let’s make that a green peace!” Bob Hunter created the concept of the “Media Mind Bomb” -reaching the public consciousness through dramatic, camera-ready opposition to environmental crimes. Jim Bohlen, Paul Cote, and Irving Stowe were the founders of the “Don’t Make a Wave Committee,” which organised the first Greenpeace action: a voyage to Amchitka Island in the Aleutians to try to stop a nuclear weapons test. David Mc. Taggart convinced a half dozen loosely connected early groups to put aside their differences and join in a single worldwide organisation, creating Greenpeace International in 1979.

We recently set up a microsite for people to find out more about things they can do. Personal tips are available at http://greenpeace.in/greenliving/personal-choices.html

In all but a few exceptional cases, Greenpeace works on a global scale and does not address individual pollution sites one by one. Greenpeace has limited resources and so chooses to focus on major threats to ecosystems and species — we simply don’t have the ability to address destruction at all levels. For local issues, we have to count on people like you who care and are willing to fight for what you believe. We can send you our support and best wishes, and advice on creating campaigns at GreenpeaceX, where you will be connected to help and tools every step of the way.You can also search through the Greenpeace archive for information about the particular issue you’re trying to solve.
Good luck: there’s No Time to Waste

We get many requests at Greenpeace for help with general school reports about pollution and other environmental issues. We wish we could help each of you individually, but we try to keep our staff focussed on the tasks that people donate to Greenpeace for: to win campaigns for the environment. Don’t forget that you can search through all the information at the Greenpeace site.

Greenpeace doesn’t address animal rights issues at a local level. We campaign for habitat protection and to stop the greatest threats to the natural world. You can contact the largest animal rights organisation in the world,People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

Take a look at our job vacancies in India and there are also job vacancies listed on our other national/regional office websites.

There arelots of ways you can help. You can find out about jobs with the organisation and with our national office sites. You can also contact your local Greenpeace office to find out if you can volunteer. You can become a financial supporter if you are not already.