The problem of illegal fishing is enormous and Greenpeace has been working hard to combat illegal fishing for many years, as we try to protect our oceans and ensure future generations have fish and fishing jobs.  We have sent ships into the open ocean year after year, to monitor fishing activities with governments as diverse as Palau and Mozambique. In some ways, this work is taking off today as Interpol’s first-ever conference on illegal fishing begins in Lyon, France.

It is estimated that between $10 and $24 billion worth of fish is caught illegally All too often, these fish are taken from developing countries and end up as cheap seafood in rich countries. Illegal fishing, especially in tuna and shark fisheries and trade takes income and food away from coastal communities. The lucra... Read more >

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.

One such group of people is the team at Red Carpet Green Dress, who have been busy over the last weeks and months creating a beautiful gown for the Oscars, which was worn by “Skyfall” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” actress Naomie Harris at last night's award ceremony.

But this wasn’t just any old dress. This was a dress with a difference.

Aside from being breathtakingly beautiful, the dress – which was created by the exciting young designer Michael Badger with the help of Vivienne Westwood and her haute couture team – was also made to have the smallest possible impact on our equally beautiful planet. The team at Red Carpet Green Dress, founded by Suzy Amis Cameron four years ago for the premiere of her... Read more >

Solid Energy has just announced that they will drop plans for digging up lignite in NZ. Whilst the Government’s mishandling of the state-owned business will have widespread implications for those communities who depend on Solid Energy for their economic lifeline, today’s decision sends a very clear signal about the future of burning coal. It is good news.

The collapse of the coal price and Don Elder’s preference for “Think Big” projects have seen the company’s finances go up in smoke. And the centrepiece of Elder’s vision for the company was to dig up vast amounts of the most polluting types of coal - lignite - and turn it into fertiliser or diesel. It was a climate bomb just waiting for Elder to light the fuse.

But this morning, Solid Energy Chairman Mark Ford announced that these plan...

As we sailed out of Wellington through the Cook Strait on the Rainbow Warrior a few days ago, all of a sudden we were met by hundreds of dolphins. And they kept arriving until we were completely surrounded.

I was totally blown away and even the most experienced seafarers among us were amazed.

And it felt significant because at the time we were very close to the Pegasus Basin where Texan oil company Anadarko wants to carry out high risk deep sea oil drilling.

We had just been to the Auckland Islands to draw people’s attention to what is at stake if we allow deep sea oil drilling to proceed and that was a profound experience. But it felt almost as if this enormous pod of dolphins had then arrived to remind us that in fact all around NZ we have an astonishingly rich ecology that is too precio... Read more >

As a nuclear campaigner, I have seen the nuclear industry walk away from its mistakes many times, ignoring people’s suffering.

But it is the terrible effect on people of a nuclear disaster such as Fukushima that really brings home the flaws of the nuclear system.

Nearly two years after the disaster, the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Japan are still being disrupted. When the disaster hit, their lives were turned upside down. They were forced from their homes, they lost their jobs, families were split up and communities were abandoned due to the radioactive fallout.

People are not able to get fair compensation. Many are still unable to return home or rebuild their lives elsewhere. Imagine living in limbo like that, stuck between past and future.

How can this be happening?

B... Read more >

The Federation of American Scientists estimates that at the end of 2012, there were 17,300 nuclear weapons globally. It said about 4,300 warheads are operational, of which about 1,800 US and Russian warheads are on high alert.

Another estimate, from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, puts the number of nuclear warheads at 19,000, down form 20,530 at the start of 2011. Other estimates go as high as 36,000.

These weapons are possessed by nine states, United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and... Read more >

By banning the sales of pesticides and herbicides Bhutan has outlined a clear path for the future of its agriculture: it will become the first wholly organic country in the world.

Bhutan was already largely organic, but the recent decision announced at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2013 aims to make it possible for the tiny Himalayan country to cut the last bond with dangerous agricultural chemicals.

The goal is not only to go organic, but to grow more food as well. Bhutan aims to achieve this with a region-by-region and crop-by-crop approach. At the same time it will study and introduce new methods of growing traditional crops in order to increase yields.  

This will set an example to show how ecological farming, which organic farming falls under, is a valid alternative to indus... Read more >