David McTaggart was among the chief contributors to the creation
of the environmentalist group Greenpeace. He was the organisation's
chief spokesman and chairman of Greenpeace International from 1979
until 1991. The Canadian businessman had become involved with the
issue of French atmospheric nuclear weapons testing in New Zealand
in 1971, and his life was tied to environmental issues from then
on.
McTaggart was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on June 24,
1932. As a youth he was an outstanding athlete whose interests
included skiing, tennis, squash, and golf. He won the Canadian
National Badminton championship in the singles division three years
running.
McTaggart worked
in the construction business for twenty years, moving to the United
States in the 1960s where he became a successful contractor and
developer. When an explosion destroyed a resort lodge built by his
firm, seriously injuring an employee, the deeply affected McTaggart
left the business and went into semi-retirement, sailing for
pleasure in the Pacific. In 1972 he became outraged with the French
Government's decision to cordon off a vast swath of international
waters in order to conduct their nuclear testing program in the
Pacific. He renamed his 12.6 meter sailing craft "Greenpeace III"
and sailed to the zone surrounding Moruroa Atoll. McTaggart
observed international law in establishing his anchor position, but
ignored the French Government's unilateral declaration of the area
as a forbidden zone. The presence of his boat, at a position
downwind from the planned blast, forced the French government to
halt its test. A French Navy vessel eventually rammed the boat to
end the embarrassing situation. McTaggart repaired his boat and
returned a year later. He was physically beaten by French military
personnel, who denied the charge, claiming that McTaggart's ship
had already left the area. One of McTaggart's crew had photographed
the beating, however, and the film, which was smuggled out of
French custody with the crewmember, proved the French had been
lying. The photographs were widely published, and the story drew
further criticism to the French nuclear testing program.
McTaggart
entered into lengthy litigation against the French. In 1974 he won
part of his case, a landmark decision in which the French courts
sided against the French government. That same year, the French
announced that they would end their atmospheric nuclear testing
program.
In 1977
McTaggart began organising new support throughout Europe for
Greenpeace, by then established in nine countries. In 1979 he
forged an international alliance between separate factions of the
organisation and united them under his chairmanship as Greenpeace
International.
Between 1975
and 1991, McTaggart was a driving force behind Greenpeace campaigns
to save the whales, stop the dumping of nuclear waste in the ocean,
block the production of toxic wastes, end nuclear testing, and
protect the Antarctic continent from oil and mineral exploitation.
Over the length of his career he published numerous articles and
two books. Awards for his contributions to environmentalism
world-wide include the Onassis Award, The Kreisky Prize, and the
United Nations Environmental Programme's Global 500 Award.
In September
of 1991, McTaggart retired from active chairmanship of Greenpeace
International to a farm in Italy, where he raised organic olive oil
and continued to work on whaling and other issues through his own
foundation.
Mr. McTaggart
died in an auto accident on March 23, 2001 near his home in
Italy.
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David McTaggart
David
McTaggart in memoriam