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Kumi Naidoo

Passionately involved in liberation struggles from a young age, he continues to speak truth to power across the range of Greenpeace campaign activities around the globe. He is dedicated to engagement, dialogue and change and seeks a green and peaceful planet for all the world’s inhabitants.

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  • "In the same boat"

    Blogpost by Kumi Naidoo - June 14, 2013 at 22:14

    When we last met the Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) I had hoped that his expression that "we are in the same boat", in terms of protecting the country’s environment, would withstand the test of time. To a great extent, I am pleased to say that it has.

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    07 June 2013

    Indonesian President Visits Rainbow Warrior © Ardiles Rante / Greenpeace

    Just a few hours ago, we met the President again, but this time on our iconic ship, the Rainbow Warrior, which is winding up a one-month tour through Indonesia raising awareness about the need to protect Indonesia's forests and oceans. The President visited the ship with the First Lady Ani Yud... Read more >

  • The last tree or the final straw?

    Blogpost by Kumi Naidoo - June 2, 2013 at 13:52

    Our office in Istanbul has been under siege. It is in the heart Taksim, an area in which a brutal police clampdown has been trying to end the peaceful protest over the planned destruction of the small, and historic, Gezi Park by Taksim Square. The protest has grown to involve tens of thousands of people and drawn the support of people from all over the world.

    Greenpeace Condemns Brutal Police Clampdown On Peaceful Gezi Park Protest There is a little calm in the storm now as police have withdrawn from Gezi Park and the tear gas is dissipating. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however, remains bullish about the plans to trash the park. He remains stern in his rejection of the peaceful protests but has conceded that the police may have over reacted. This is far from over.

    In the past 24 hours, tear gas canisters have been thrown by police at the entrance of o... Read more >

  • Time for civil disobedience

    Blogpost by Kumi Naidoo - May 20, 2013 at 10:01

    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 has 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, tr... Read more >

  • Redirect military expenditure to ensure a sustainable future

    Blogpost by Kumi Naidoo - April 19, 2013 at 17:03

    As published in The Guardian on the 18th of April 2013.

    Last year $1.75tn was spent on the world's military, according to new estimates released this Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Institute (SIPRI). Seems like a lot? Let me put this into perspective. This amount is the equivalent of Canada's GDP or twice the GDP of the Netherlands.

    Nato members together spent a trillion dollars on the military and despite a significant 6% decrease, the US remains firmly in the lead, accounting for about 40% of the global amount. With a considerable percentage of citizens' taxes both in America (where it's up to 47%) and across the globe going towards military expenses, surely people are entitled to question whether this is money well spent to ensure security. And how this spending is more just... Read more >

  • Shell’s Arctic failure is Obama’s chance to act

    Blogpost by Kumi Naidoo - March 4, 2013 at 10:59

    Blog also published in Huffington Post on February 28th.

    An unexpected thing happened last night: one of the biggest oil companies in the world — Shell — made a big decision acknowledging that the oil industry cannot operate safely in the Arctic. A decision that means one year of relief for the people and wildlife of the Arctic.

    Shell, a company with one of the worst human rights and environmental records in history, has cancelled its plans to drill this summer in the Alaskan Arctic. A fitting end to a year-long tragicomedy of errors. A year that began with boasting and bravado and ended in a series of accidents and outright safety violations that proved Shell is far from Arctic ready. The bottom line is that no one is or will ever be ready, given the risks involved.

    President Obama ... Read more >

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