Greenpeace news

Nuclear power is safe and pigs can fly

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:34:00 +0200

That’s the lesson Greenpeace Sweden sent to the nuclear industry once again today as we flew our paramotor glider over the unprotected Ringhals nuclear power plant in southwest Sweden, near Gothenburg.

With simple gear and without hindrance, our Greenpeace activist dropped pig-shaped balloons from the glider onto the reactor roof as part of our ongoing “stress test” of nuclear reactors.

And once again we see that nuclear reactors are both vulnerable and unprotected from threats – deliberate or accidental - from the air. The next time it might not be a Greenpeace paramotor approaching the plant – it could be a falling passenger jet.

So why are we highlighting these dangers? Because nobody else – especially the nuclear industry - will.

After the nuclear disaster at Fukushima in 2011, the EU decided that all member states needed to "stress test" their nuclear power plants. In a summary report, the European Commission identified several shortcomings at nuclear power plants in Europe.

But the stress tests missed a number of serious security risks. To highlight security risks, 70 Greenpeace activists conducted complementary, peaceful stress tests at two Swedish nuclear power plants in October 2012, revealing how accessible nuclear power plants are to unauthorized persons. The response from industry and authority was to build yet another fence and increase vehicle checks.

Today’s additional stress test reveals yet another example of the long list of risks connected to nuclear power, none of which are taken seriously enough by authorities and industry. Despite the repeated reports, studies and test, reactors are allowed to continue in operation as if nothing is wrong.

This is completely unacceptable. Sweden’s environment minister Lena Ek must put safety first and take all of the country’s reactors out of service as soon as possible.

The other nuclear nations would do well to pay attention. How vulnerable are their reactors? Don’t waste billions in a doomed attempt to upgrade inherently unsafe reactors when that money could finance an energy revolution in renewables and energy efficiency.

We don’t have to worry that accidents and attacks on wind farms and solar power arrays might cause catastrophic damage. So let’s take the stress out of electricity generation and drop nuclear power. The nuclear pig is never going to fly.

(Images © Greenpeace / Johanna Hanno)

Danzer feels the bite as the FSC show its teeth

Tue, 21 May 2013 14:00:00 +0200

To the layperson the world of forest certification is often a technical one that does not seem to operate at what could be called a breakneck pace. However, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has this week reached a landmark decision that fits the old adage that ‘good things come to those who wait’.

The Swiss-German timber group Danzer will be 'disassociated' from the FSC, the global certification system for responsible for forest management. This means the company loses all its FSC certificates worldwide.

The decision is the culmination of an 18-month effort by Greenpeace following a complaint made in 2011. That complaint stated that while Danzer bore the FSC stamp and projected a ‘green’ image to the world, its own operations were involved in human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to the independent forest monitor in DRC, the company was logging illegally on a systematic scale in 2011 when it received an FSC certificate for controlled wood.

The FSC has a set of minimum criteria for companies it will associate with - the Policy for Association. This is done to prevent the bad and the ugly from joining the scheme and helping to maintain FSC credibility in the marketplace.

The Policy for Association should exclude companies from the FSC that are active in deforestation, illegal logging, human rights abuses, destroying high conservation value forests and using GMOs. The FSC has now done the right thing to protect its reputation and brand by breaking ties with the Danzer group.

To exemplify why all of this is so crucial it is worth travelling back and looking at why Greenpeace International filed the complaint against Danzer.

In May 2011 the police and military were called by Siforco - at that time a subsidiary of Danzer - to quell protests by local communities in Yasilika against the company’s operations and their failure to fulfil social obligations.

Many of the local community were subsequently injured and had the their properties destroyed. There were also allegations of rape. One person later reportedly died of their injuries.

For Greenpeace, the case was clear-cut: Danzer needed to bear some responsibility for the company's involvement in these violations. We had been documenting conflicts in the company’s logging areas in the DRC since 2005 and this was not an isolated incident.

We welcome FSC’s show of teeth, although it is still unclear if this will help the people of the DRC and other countries or if it will rectify past transgressions by Danzer. But, it does send the right message. It is an important signal for forest managers that these practices are totally unacceptable and that they can be held responsible for their actions.

Greenpeace does not expect any FSC certificates to be handed out in the DRC in the near future as companies are not ready for them and neither is the FSC. This decision underlines that.

Unfortunately, the Yalisika case is not an isolated event. Violent conflicts occur frequently in the DRC where the logging sector is in a state of organised chaos.

The FSC's decision will hopefully spark a long awaited process to strengthen its system and make it credible in high risk areas where good governance, the rule of law, civil society are lacking and corruption is common practice.

Since the complaint was made Danzer has divested Siforco and sold its concession to Groupe Blattner Elwyn.

But what became clear today is that it cannot just sell up and walk away from the problems it has caused in the past. It will now have to pay for it by losing its certificates and do what it should have done years ago - respect the rights of local people and provide them with benefits.

Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update for May 17th to May 20th, 2013

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:01:00 +0200

Here’s the latest of our news bulletins from the ongoing crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

State of the Fukushima Reactors

TEPCO announced yet another leak on Friday, this time from a tank holding treated water near reactors number 5 and 6 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The 27 cubic meters of spilled water had already been absorbed into the ground, but officials said that radiation was below detectable levels. After a valve was closed, the leak stopped.

But, the next day, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck approximately 50 km from the plant. TEPCO initially reported that there was no damage, but then said that an additional leak of four liters had occurred in the wake of the quake. Officials believe that because the tank was filled to capacity, water sloshed out. They plan to move some of the water from that tank to another storage area.

TEPCO

TEPCO reportedly plans to submit applications to the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) to restart reactors #1 and #7 at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture a few weeks after the agency begins to accept them on July 19, although company officials are currently denying those claims. If so, the move will come despite widespread local opposition and the fact that both of those reactors are built on fault lines that are most likely active. A year ago, TEPCO submitted a business plan to the government that included plans to restart all seven reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant by this April. That goal was never realized. Now, although the NRA has said that it will only perform safety inspections at three reactors at a time, TEPCO is hoping that its reactors will be among the first. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa reactors are boiling water reactors (BWRs), the same as those that experienced meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Company officials say that they are working on installing filtered vents, newly-required for BWRs, in time for the NRA inspections. “We’re willing to spend any amount of money on safety measures [to ensure the restarts], even though our finances are tight,” one official said. Meanwhile, the company admitted last November that costs for compensation to victims, decommissioning of the reactors, and decontamination could top 10 trillion yen. The government has already allocated 5 trillion yen to prevent TEPCO from going under.

However, most analysts believe that restarting the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa reactors will be an uphill battle. More than two years after the triple meltdown that destroyed several reactors at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi plant, tens of thousands of residents are still unable to return to their homes because of high radiation levels. The governor of Niigata, Hirohiko Izumida, flatly declared that he won’t consider granting approval to bring the reactors online again until the root causes of the Fukushima disaster have been determined. “We won’t discuss resuming operations of the reactors until results of the review into the crisis at the Fukushima #1 plan are presented,” he said. While Kariwa Mayor Hiroo Shinada has said he will approve the restarts if the NRA declares the reactors safe for operation, Kashiwazaki Mayor Hiroshi Aida has been vocal and direct about his concerns: “The situation’s not up for discussion now, as new safety standards have yet to be introduced.”

Moreover, despite its current optimism, TEPCO may never get the chance to try to win local municipal approval. The utility’s own seismic studies show movement within the last 200,000 to 330,000 years in fault lines running beneath both reactor #1 and #7, as well as #2, #3, #5, and #6. Although current law prevents building reactors over faults that have moved within the last 120,000 to 130,000 years, the NRA plans to unroll new seismic guidelines in July, which will change the definition of an active fault to any which has shown movement within the last 400,000 years.

Nuclear Politics in Japan

Japan is continuing to promote nuclear sales to other countries, despite the fact that all 50 of that nation’s reactors are idled in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Recently, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe signed nuclear technology agreements leaders from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Turkey, and he will reportedly meet with Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, at the end of the month. That move is certain to engender criticism; India has not yet signed the international Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), Toshimutsu Motegi, recently said that the country aims to increase nuclear exports from the current 300 billion yen to 20 trillion yen by 2020.

Juan Carlos Lentijo, who recently headed a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that was investigating the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, has said that TEPCO’s recent plan to pump groundwater from the area near the Fukushima plant and release it into the sea may hold merit. Currently, approximately 400 tons of groundwater leak into the basements of reactor buildings housing crippled reactors each day; as it does, it too becomes highly radioactive and subsequently needs to be stored. TEPCO is running out of space, and has proposed the current plan to pump the water, which officials say is less contaminated than that of nearby rivers, into the ocean. Local fishermen remain concerned about the effect on the reputation of their catch, and have not yet agreed to the plan.

However, Lentijo, who believes that TEPCO’s ongoing water crisis is one of its biggest hurdles, said that if the inflow of groundwater is reduced, then the utility may be able to repair leaks in the buildings and eventually enter them in order to determine the state of the reactors. He still believes, as do other experts, that decommissioning the reactors could easily take as long as 40 years.

Atsuyuki Suzuki, President of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, which operates the beleaguered Monju fast-breeder reactor in Fukui Prefecture, has resigned in the wake of a scandal in which the agency admitted that it had neglected to perform safety inspections on almost 10,000 pieces of equipment, some of it critical for safe operation of the reactor. An NRA statement last week said, “The Japan Atomic Energy Agency cannot sufficiently secure the safety of Monju. We see deterioration in its safety culture.” NRA Chair Shunichi Tanaka added that Suzuki has provided poor leadership and did not prioritize safety. The reactor was first brought online in 1994, but a serious sodium coolant leak and subsequent cover-up by JAEA led to a fifteen-year shutdown. In 2010, the reactor was restarted for testing, but an equipment accident ceased operations before the reactor could reach full capacity. So far, the failed project has cost the Japanese taxpayers approximately one trillion yen.

Radiation Contamination

For the first time since the Fukushima disaster first began to unfold, farmers in the Miyakomachi District within the city of Tamura, located just 15 km from the Fukushima Daiichi plant, began to plant rice this week, in an effort to resurrect an industry that has been decimated by the nuclear disaster. Miyakomachi is the only district in Tamura in which decontamination has been completed, although officials still do not deem it safe enough for residents to spend the night there. That restriction is providing additional hardship for paddy workers, some of whom have to travel more than an hour each way to tend to their fields. Farmers are currently using potassium-enriched fertilizer in order to prevent radiation in the soil from bring absorbed into the rice. Officials said that all rice will be checked for contamination before being sold.

Time for civil disobedience

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:21:00 +0200

The tradition of civil disobedience is being reignited. The need is growing and the call to action is becoming impossible to ignore! Non-violent direct action can help re-establish a balance where our rights have been overtaken by the self interest of powerful economic elites, willing to sacrifice our children’s future for their short term gain and profit.

Peaceful acts of civil disobedience have been at the heart of many major struggles humanity has fought over the past several decades: the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, the Civil Rights movement in the US and Gandhi’s fight against British colonial rule in India, to mention just a few examples.

Imagine a world without civil disobedience and non-violent direct action. If that’s too abstract and difficult to imagine, try this: imagine a world where women still can’t vote, where racial segregation and institutionalised discrimination still rule, imagine brutal colonial dominance and extreme inequity and social injustice across the globe. And while in some places we have to look to the past to find such outrageous examples of injustice and inequality, let's not forget that there are still many places where such disturbing realities remain the norm to this day.

Actions do speak louder than words and actions are needed now more than ever given the threat that our planet is facing as a result of rampant environmental and social exploitation.

Civil disobedience and direct action are at the heart of what we do here at Greenpeace, part of our heritage and history, our destiny and mission. Civil disobedience does not require heroes – it only takes decent men and women to say ‘enough is enough’. While with Greenpeace, I have taken direct action in the freezing waters of the Arctic Ocean twice. I have climbed oilrigs to represent the voice and concerns of millions of people saying that Arctic drilling is madness and must be stopped. I have even spent time in jail for this – but the fight is not over, and I will continue to support the Save the Arctic movement to stop Big Oil’s irresponsible ambitions. But this is about more than just stopping Big Oil; it’s about creating a world in which future generations can thrive, a world that is peaceful, just and equitable.

Civil disobedience seems to penetrate the consciousness of our political leaders much more than other methods. The public pressure that comes from civil disobedience can tilt public opinion and re-establish the balance between people power and the deep wallets of private companies sacrificing long-term environmental considerations for short-term profits. Political leaders can realise that they need to listen – if not because it’s the right thing to do, at least for fear of losing their mandates and positions.

A big thank you to all activists out there advancing the environmental cause, whether it’s fighting to bring justice to local communities in Nigeria suffering from Shell oil spills or stopping the Keystone XL pipeline in the US! Civil disobedience momentum is building – but much more is needed to avert catastrophic climate change and environmental destruction and degradation. Please join me and take action too!

Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update for May 14th to May 16th, 2013

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:29:00 +0200

Here’s the latest of our news bulletins from the ongoing crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Nuclear Regulation Authority

A panel of seismic experts from Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has determined that a fault running directly beneath Japan Atomic Power Company’s (JAPC) Tsuruga power plant in Fukui Prefecture is active, which means that the reactor will almost certainly never go online again. It is the first time since the March 2011 nuclear disaster that a reactor has been declared unsafe to operate (not counting the Fukushima reactors, which were damaged in triple nuclear meltdowns as well as hydrogen explosions in March 2011). The NRA will make a formal decision on the reactor’s future next week, on May 22. A second reactor at the plant, also currently offline, is 43 years old and will probably be decommissioned because of its age and pending NRA rules that will declare nuclear reactors older than 40 years inoperable except under special circumstances. JAPC also owns two reactors at the Tokai nuclear power plant, but one was decommissioned in 1998, and local opposition to restarting the second one remains strong. Ultimately, the company could be forced to declare bankruptcy. JAPC is claiming that the decision is premature and inaccurate. They claim that the fault, which sits near two other fault lines, is not active, nor are those that are located nearby.

The financial implications of the Tsuruga closure are immense and could cast ripples across the entire nuclear power industry. JAPC is owned by several regional utilities, including TEPCO (the largest shareholder, with 28.23% stock), Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO), Chubu Electric, Hokuriku Electric, Tohoku Electric, Electric Power Development Company (widely known as J-Power in Japan), and Chugoku Electric Power Company. The utilities have jointly pledged to support JAPC financially through next April. However, KEPCO, Chubu Electric, Hokuriku, and Tohoku are responsible for guaranteeing JAPC’s debts, which currently total approximately 100 billion yen. Moreover, analysts say that if the company folds, decommissioning and costs of storing or reprocessing spent nuclear fuel could grow significantly, placing the financial health of the shareholding utilities in jeopardy, during a time when they are already struggling themselves. “There is a possibility that the power companies will have to shoulder a total of 500 to 700 billion yen,” admitted one government official. Utilities are reportedly imploring the government to provide assistance, but have not been successful so far. In the meantime, the public is growing angry at having such costs past along to them in the form of electricity rate increases.

In other news, the NRA said this week that the Monju fast-breeder reactor, which is located in Fukui Prefecture and is operated by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), is being shut down for the time being, as a result of egregious safety violations. Last summer, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA, which has since been disbanded and replaced by the NRA) discovered that JAEA had failed to conduct safety checks on almost 10,000 pieces of equipment, some considered critical to nuclear safety. The shutdown will probably extend into the new year.

The incident prompted NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka to deride JAEA and its president, Atsuyuki Suzuki, for a lax safety culture. An NRA statement said, “The Japan Atomic Energy Agency cannot sufficiently secure the safety of Monju. We see deterioration in its safety culture.” Tanaka added that Suzuki has provided poor leadership and did not prioritize safety. Suzuki has been cavalier about the charges, saying that some of the errors were unavoidable. The NRA’s strong response is considered rare in a culture where collusion between government monitors and the nuclear industry has been the norm.

The shutdown means that the Monju reactor, which has a flawed history, will not be able to conduct operational testing, as JAEA had hoped, by the end of this fiscal year, and will once again cast doubt on the success of the Japanese nuclear fuel cycle, which depends on recycling used fuel but which has never been realized. The reactor was first brought online in 1994, but a serious sodium coolant leak and subsequent cover-up by JAEA led to a fifteen-year shutdown. In 2010, the reactor was restarted for testing, but an equipment accident ceased operations before the reactor could reach full capacity. So far, the failed project has cost the Japanese taxpayers approximately one trillion yen.

State of the Fukushima Reactors

TEPCO officials announced yesterday that a leak of highly radioactive water from a belowground storage pit which occurred in April, originally estimated at 120 tons, was actually much smaller: approximately 20 liters. TEPCO President Naomi Hirose nevertheless acknowledged that it is “a fact” that contaminated water leaks are occurring. Officials are blaming a faulty water gauge for the discrepancy. Equipment at the beleaguered plant continues to malfunction and fail, and experts have questioned how workers will effectively decommission the reactors there—a process expected to take more than 40 years—if safety equipment keeps breaking down.

TEPCO

Toshimitsu Motegi, head of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), said that the government will encourage Japanese fishermen to allow TEPCO to release groundwater gathered near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean, after the utility’s attempts to do so failed. Earlier this week, TEPCO officials met with leaders and representatives from the Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations (FPFFCA) in Iwaki, to explain that groundwater is seeping into the Fukushima reactors, becoming contaminated and further exacerbating TEPCO’s ongoing war with vast amounts of highly radioactive water that needs to be stored at the Fukushima compound. Each day, approximately 400 tons of groundwater seep into the plant’s crippled reactors and become radioactive. Officials plan to dig 12 wells to pump out groundwater and release it to the sea before it can seep into the reactor buildings. They estimate that doing so will reduce the inflow by 100 tons per day, or 25%. Tests conducted on 200 tons of that pumped groundwater show lower radiation levels than those of nearby rivers and streams (which have also been contaminated), and officials insist that the water is safe.

Leaders of the FPFFCA had initially indicated that they would authorize the plan, and when TEPCO met with the group, it assumed that their approval would be pro-forma. However, a high percentage of FPFFCA members expressed concern about whether the action would further damage the reputation of Fukushima Prefecture’s seafood, an industry that has been decimated by the nuclear disaster over the past two years. Distrust in the company remains widespread and deeply rooted, and many fear that the utility will be unable to prevent more leaks of radioactive water like the ones that happened last month. One member noted, “An explanation from TEPCO alone will not be enough to win the confidence of union members.” Another noted, “If something happens at the plant, it will directly hit the image of local products.” Some fishermen expressed confusion about the difference between contaminated water and the groundwater, but one union leader said that this illustrated the problem: “Many of our members got a wrong idea that contaminated water would be dumped into the sea after being treated, but if that is the case, then it will be impossible for consumers to understand [the difference between groundwater and treated water].” Others said that they did understand the difference, but did not trust TEPCO to refrain from also releasing the ever-growing supply of radioactive water that is currently being stored in hundreds of tanks onsite. One representative said, “Even if it is groundwater, damage to the public perception of fishing will be unavoidable and could hurt our trial operations” as fishermen try to regain their place in the marketplace.

“We should start all over,” a TEPCO official admitted. The government will now conduct information sessions with small groups of the FPFFCA’s 1,499 members, a process expected to take at least a month, in an effort to sway their decisions. The move is a blow to TEPCO, which had hoped to begin releasing water into the sea this week. (Source: NHK)

Nuclear Politics in Japan

A new survey conducted by Japan’s Mainichi Daily News shows that mayors of eight out of 11 municipalities located within 30 km of Chubu Electric’s Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant in Shizuoka Prefecture oppose restarting the reactor there. Some insist that the utility needs to guarantee how it will dispose of spent nuclear fuel before they will grant their approval, and four of the mayors said that they will never give their permission for restarting the reactor, even if the NRA declares it safe to restart. The mayor of Makinohara, Shigeki Nishihara, explained, “The power station is situated in an area where the epicenter of the Tokai quake is expected to be located. [Based on historical and seismic data, experts widely predict that a massive earthquake will hit the Tokai region within the next few decades.] There is a large population, and industrial facilities are concentrated around the plant.” Shizuoka Governor Heita Kawakatsu is up for reelection in June, and has promised to put the restart issue up for public referendum if re-elected.

A group of lawmakers from the ruling pro-nuclear Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) are joining forces to promote the restart of nuclear reactors across Japan, despite widespread public opposition to nuclear power. A group of Diet members met this week to strategize; they plan to submit a proposal pushing their agenda by the end of this session of Parliament, which concludes in June.

Japan’s Council on Natural Energy, which includes representatives from a majority of the country’s prefectures as well as from major corporations, has compiled a proposal urging the government to develop renewable energy targets as part of the national basic energy plan. In addition, the group said that renewable energy rates need to be determined as soon as possible.

Why we are happy, but not celebrating the Indonesian forest moratorium

Fri, 17 May 2013 06:00:00 +0200

Image..

I have been fielding calls non-stop over the last couple of days, because as you may have noticed, there has been widespread coverage lately (see here, here and here) on the Indonesian government’s extension of its forest moratorium.

It’s good news.

And it’s encouraging that the President of Indonesia, known as SBY, is renewing his commitment to protect forests – and cut my country’s massive carbon emissions. If the powerful palm oil lobby here in Indonesia had got their way for instance, the forest moratorium would have been scrapped and there would be a free for all to clear land for pulp and paper, palm oil and mining concessions.

Thankfully that did not happen.

But sadly, the moratorium still doesn’t go far enough. As I’ve been telling journalists who have asked for our view on the moratorium extension, the President did not go far enough – he did not strengthen the moratorium to cover all forests and peatland. Like the previous moratorium, the extension only covers primary forests, and rather than ALL natural forest and peatland. This is what’s really needed if we want to save Indonesia’s remaining tigers and orangutans, which are under threat from relentless palm oil, and pulp and paper expansion.

Why is there a moratorium anyway?

A shocking 85% of Indonesia’s emissions are from deforestation and peatland clearance, making Indonesia one of the largest greenhouse gas emitters on the planet, behind countries such as China and the United States. Norway is funding Indonesia’s forests and climate initiative to the tune of US$1 billion, with the aim to incentivise forest protection in Indonesia and cut greenhouse gas emissions. It’s a noble aim, and one we have been lobbying (both quietly and loudly) for years now.

Image..So in May 2011, Indonesia introduced a two-year moratorium on permits for new concessions in primary forests and peatlands. While this moratorium was a welcome step in terms of the signals it sent, in practice most of the primary forests that it covers are already legally protected; the remainder are largely inaccessible and not under immediate threat of development. However, it leaves almost 50% of Indonesia’s primary forests and peatlands without any protection as they lie within already designated concessions and other significant areas of high carbon forest are not covered by the moratorium, as they are considered to be secondary forests.

The new two-year moratorium does nothing to fix that.

And furthermore, it does nothing about crucial issues of governance, which we feel goes to the heart of the matter. Without proper oversight and enforcement, the moratorium is a weak decree.

We have closely monitored the moratorium's implementation, and for the two years during the last moratorium we still found cases of overlap with concessions and some deforestation (encroachment) in protected areas.

That’s not to mention that the Ministry of Foresty has changed forest functions (from protected forest to production forest) and forest status from forest area to non-forest area.

So what are we going to do?

A lot.

More work needs to be done to harmonise spatial planning, developing sectorial policies and maps, stronger law enforcement measures (including addressing corruption and money laundering in the forest sector) and mechanisms for social conflict resolution. We will be pushing (quietly and loudly) to get this done.

And we’ll continue investigating and publicising cases of deforestation, the companies responsible and the laws that need strengthening.

We’ll remind the President that the path to zero deforestation means more than signing a decree.

Watch this space.

Yuyun Indradi is a Forests Campaigner at Greenpeace Southeast Asia

I Love Arctic meets Arctic Council

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:00:00 +0200

The air was abuzz this morning in Kiruna. As delegates and press were mingling in the breakfast hall, Foreign Ministers were entering their policed motorcades and a group of Greenpeace volunteers was making final preparations to greet the decision makers with banners and signs along the road. But in the midst of all this, we were honoured with a quiet yet very special moment.

In a branch of the hotel lobby we gathered with four representatives of Arctic Indigenous Peoples; amongst them were Chief Michael Stickman, International Chair of the Arctic Athabaskan Council, and James Gamble, Interim Executive Director of the Aleut International Association, both Permanent Participants of the Arctic Council, who received two of the I Love Arctic photo books that we brought to Kiruna.

Hand over of 'I Love Arctic' photo-books to two Permanent Participants of Arctic Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic Council. From the left to the right: Ethan Gilbert (Greenpeace), Chief Michael Stickman (International Chair, Arctic Athabaskan Council), Chief Gary Harrison (Alaska Chair, Arctic Athabaskan Council), Chief Bill Erasmus (International Vice-Chair, Arctic Athabaskan Council), James Gamble (Interim Executive Director, Aleut International Association), Kiera-Dawn Kolson (Greenpeace).

In support of the I Love Arctic project, Chief Bill Erasmus of the Arctic Athabaskan Council carried four books with him into the Arctic Council Ministerial meeting to distribute them on our behalf to the four remaining Permanent Participants. We waved him goodbye in the cold air, warmed by the sight of over 17,000 people’s hopes and dreams for the Arctic making their way into the exclusive meeting.

Already yesterday, as delegates and Ministers were shuttled from the airport to Kiruna's city centre, they were greeted by activists presenting I Love Arctic photos on huge banners along the road.

US Secretary of State John Kerry's motorcade passes I Love Arctic photo banners on the way to Kiruna.

Inspired by the events so far, we still had one goal to fulfill: the handover of the books to the Arctic Council member states. Today's final appointment was with the outgoing Chair of the Arctic Council Gustaf Lind and the Danish Arctic Ambassador Klavs Holm, who received the last eight of the I Love Arctic photo books.

Swedish Arctic campaigner Therese Jacobson hands over 'I Love Arctic' books to the outgoing Chair of the Arctic Council Gustaf Lind and the Danish Arctic Ambassador Klavs Holm.

Despite the weak outcome of the Arctic Council Ministerial meeting, which was full of nice words, yet failed to sufficiently address pressing issues like greenhouse gas emissions of the Arctic States, Black Carbon or the real risks of Arctic oil drilling with concrete plans of action, we leave tomorrow knowing that the call of our ever-growing global movement for the Arctic was heard loud and clear in Kiruna.

Bringing the voices of people across the globe to the Arctic Council meeting was an important milestone. The struggle to save the Arctic and the future of our planet is a marathon, not a sprint. Together we celebrate the culmination of our achievements - tomorrow it's back to work.

Untangling the Gordian knot between the oil industry and the Arctic Council

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:52:00 +0200

The Arctic Council — the body concerned with the future management of the region — met today in Kiruna, Sweden’s most northern city, built around the world’s largest underground iron mine. As is perhaps inevitable when digging an enormous hole in the ground, the iron mine is now found to be pulling the town down into it; Kiruna is either going to fall in, or its going to be moved, brick by brick, 4km away. The sense of a community on the edge permeates this tough Northern outpost.

Kiruna will survive, because its people are resilient and resourceful. But whether the culture, wildlife, economy and infrastructure of the region can survive the twin crises of climate change and rapid and poorly regulated industrialisation is a more open question. Not least because the Arctic Council, originally established to protect the Arctic and its Peoples, too often proves better at defending the interests of extractive industries and big business.

The governments of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Russia, the US and Canada all know that two-thirds of the world’s remaining fossil fuel resources must stay in the ground if we are to stand a chance of avoiding catastrophic climate change. In one report after another, Arctic Council scientists present irrefutable scientific evidence about impacts of fossil fuel extraction on the region; the loss of sea ice, the acidification of the oceans; and more locally, the huge risks of oil drilling in one of the world’s most fragile ecosystems, where it would be almost impossible to clean up a spill.

Yet the Council remains apparently paralysed and unable to take any concrete steps to stop the oil rush that is threatening to engulf this region in a cascade of changes from which it might never recover. The reason for this gulf between this understanding of risk — and the ability to act — is simple. In Canada, the US, Russia and Norway, the Arctic Council also encompasses some of the largest fossil fuel producing nations in the world — nations whose political systems, finances, wider economy and even cultures are profoundly entangled with the interests of the fossil fuel industry.

The situation is painful, absurd, tragic and deeply, deeply frustrating. Earlier today, US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke of the necessity of curbing climate change to protect future generations. He called it a life or death situation. Yet the influence of oil money on US politics remains a roadblock to all of the steps that the country could take to tackle the crisis. Canada talks of reducing black carbon emissions, whilst continuing to pour money and unprecedented backroom effort into securing global markets for tar sands — the dirtiest fossil fuel of all.

Yet grotesque as this position is, it is neither stable nor inevitable. The evidence that bold action is essential for our collective survival is overpowering. The voices of those suffering the consequences of rapid change in the Arctic — particularly the voices of Indigenous Peoples who for too long have not had control over their own futures — cannot and will not be ignored forever. Beyond the Arctic, more and more people are realising that their lives, livelihoods and cultures can only be protected if we decide to untangle the Gordian knot of our relationship with the fossil fuel industry. From changes to the monsoon systems of Asia to the rising sea levels and devastating storms affecting people from the Seychelles to Manhattan, the consequences are clear and the choices, unavoidable.

The result is that the Arctic Council is now at a political tipping point: if they do nothing but research and chat — they will have failed the people of the Arctic and the wider global community.

And so too is the environment is at a tipping point. The contradictions between politics and reality might make us angry, but shouldn’t allow us despair. Together we can shift the balance.

A beacon of hope in the Arctic Council's shadow

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:05:00 +0200

I’m here in a city called Kiruna in the northern part of Sweden, just inside the Arctic Circle. It is a small city with less than 20,000 inhabitants and in the foggy scenery, one thing stands out: The worlds’ largest underground iron mine, which can be seen from anywhere in the city.

From where I sit, I can see the iron mine to the left, and wind turbines a few kilometres to its right. It’s a strange dichotomy, and yet so appropriate — a fitting reminder that the Arctic is at a crossroads.

Today, Kiruna is playing host to the Arctic Council, where foreign ministers from the eight Arctic states and the six permanent participants — representing the Arctic Indigenous Peoples — are about to meet to discuss the future of the Arctic. The foreign ministers are largely bound by their pro-development agenda. But not everyone in the room shares their vision.

In fact just yesterday, we wrapped up a conference here, in the very same building where the foreign ministers are now gathering, a pan-Arctic Indigenous Peoples conference called “The Peoples’ Arctic: Unified for a Better Tomorrow.” And in that meeting it became very clear that there is growing Indigenous opposition to oil drilling in the Arctic.

More than 70 people attended the conference, most of them Arctic Indigenous and Inuit, from every Arctic state. Two of the attendees represent organisations that are permanent participants in the Arctic Council. Both of them oppose Arctic drilling.

At the end of the conference, a range of the participants signed onto a declaration, which was drafted by a group of Russian Indigenous Peoples at the first conference of its kind last August. The declaration now has more than 40 signatories — including two of the six permanent participants at the Arctic Council — calling for a ban on offshore oil drilling and for the Arctic states to respect the rights of the Indigenous Peoples.

Their reasons for signing the declaration are many and varied; rather than try to speak for them, you can find their own words inscribed on portraits here.

Many of these people, who have an inherent right to the lands of the Arctic, are experiencing the difficulties caused by a changing Arctic. The event was historical, as the relationship between Greenpeace and the Peoples of the North hasn’t been the best since our mistakes in the sealing campaign back in the eighties. There were lively discussions about the threats that both Indigenous Peoples and the Arctic face, and it is clear that there is a sense of urgency — a need to act.

And all of this happened on the eve of the Arctic Council meeting.

When these eight foreign ministers gather this morning to meet and greet and sign a greenwashed agreement on oil spill response and claim that they have done all they could — they will do it in the shadow of this conference and these statements. Then they will go back home and continue to allow oil companies to continue their destructive rampage in the fragile Arctic.

But the beacon of hope shines through the voices of those Indigenous Peoples who over the weekend, took a step toward rejecting Arctic oil. Greenpeace is not speaking on behalf of these Peoples, but we are standing shoulder to shoulder with them on this issue to protect the Arctic from destructive oil exploration. The movement is growing, and it is getting more and more difficult for the toothless governments in the Arctic Council to ignore.

Bringing the voice of 17,000 people to Kiruna

Tue, 14 May 2013 19:23:00 +0200

Almost there! My train is slowly approaching Kiruna, a city in the very North of Sweden, right above the Arctic Circle. Looking outside the window, I see the beautiful, snow covered landscape of Lapland, home to the Sami, the Indigenous Peoples who inhabit this land. It's the furthest north I've ever been.

I'm travelling to Kiruna on behalf of more than 17,000 people who came together on the “I love Arctic” Global Day of Action in 38 countries across the globe to call on our political leaders to protect the Arctic from dangerous offshore oil drilling and destructive industrial scale fishing.

Tomorrow, on May 15, 2013, the Arctic Council will gather in Kiruna, for their bi-annual Foreign Ministers meeting. The Arctic Council is the political regional body of Arctic states, observers and permanent participants — Arctic Indigenous Peoples — who are shaping the future governance and management of the Arctic.

According to its own founding principles and achievements, the Arctic Council should put the protection of the people and environment of the Arctic first, but instead it seems as if national and corporate interests begin to replace these founding principles. I’m on my way to remind them of their original mandate as they sit down to discuss the future of the Arctic.

One major item on the agenda of tomorrow's meeting is the agreement on a document titled "Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response in the Arctic." As Greenpeace noted when we leaked this document in February, this is a disappointingly weak plan. It fails to set any practical minimum standards for preparedness and it doesn't even touch on the issue of company liability for the consequences of an oil spill. No oil company has ever proven it can clean up an oil spill in ice, and serious questions remain about the role oil companies played in drafting the document the Arctic Council is about to agree on tomorrow.

In the face of all this, I’m happy to be here to remind the Arctic Council of what’s at stake, and that they have a mandate beyond politicking and drafting useless document — a mandate to protect the Arctic not just for the Arctic states, but for people all around the world. Because we know that what happens in the Arctic effects everyone, everywhere.

As a documentation of the “I Love Arctic” Global Day of Action, I brought 14 picture books with me to Kiruna. Each of these books contains photos of all the 280 human banners, people formed on April 20 from Buenos Aires to Bangkok and from Oslo to Cape Town. The books also contain a photo-mosaic of more than 2,000 people holding up a speech bubble saying "I Love Arctic."

Very soon, on behalf of an ever growing Arctic movement, I'll have the honour of handing these beautiful books over to the foreign ministers as well as to the Arctic Council's permanent participants, the Indigenous Peoples of the Arctic — the true stewards of the Arctic. Once this is done, I'll share the story of how it went with you all.

My train is rolling into Kiruna's central station now. Arctic Council, here we come!