Greenpeace Changing Laws and Opinions

April 1972-1974: Fighting French Nuclear Tests

Greenpeace undertakes a series of voyages to the French nuclear test sites at the Moruroa and Fanyataula atolls. In September 974, the French government bows to international pressure and announces that all future tests in the South Pacific will be conducted underground.

1975: U.S. Debut

Greenpeace opens its first offices in the United States in San Francisco and Portland.

April 1981: Whaling Victory

In one of Greenpeace's first victories for the whale campaign, the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the international body that monitors and regulates the activities of commerical, scientific and other forms of whaling, bans the hunting of sperm whales.

1982: Toxic Dumping Stopped

After attention is brought to the issue by Greenpeace, the National Lead Company of New Jersey ends its practice of dumping titanium dioxide waste at sea.

July 1982: Commercial Whaling Banned

In a landmark decision, the International Whaling Commission votes to end all commercial whaling in three years time—the only objections coming from Norway, the USSR, Japan and Peru. Any whaling activities must now be approved by the IWC, and numerous governments lobby the IWC to overturn the moratorium. Greenpeace continues to have a key presence at the IWC, still working to keep the moratorium effective and safe.

April 1983: Curbing Offshore Drilling

The United States Congress passes moratoria on lease sales for offshore oil drilling off Cape Cod, Northern California and Southwest Florida— one of the first victories brought about by Greenpeace's early energy work, including direct actions.

1987: Fighting Acid Rain

Several years after Greenpeace initiates its Acid Rain Campaign, the United Nations enacts protocols to cut sulfur dioxide emissions and to freeze nitrogen oxide emissions in an effort to stop the destruction of forests and acidification of lakes.

1987: Historic Nuclear Treaty Signed

The treaty on Intermediate Nuclear Forces is signed and becomes the first nuclear arms control treaty to eliminate an entire class of nuclear weapons. The ongoing work of Greenpeace and other peace groups pressuring governments and international bodies to act on this issue brought about this treaty.

1987: Whaling Victory in Iceland

After pressure from Greenpeace and consumers, Iceland announces an end to its so-called "scientific whaling."

July 1988: Victory Against Toxics

Bulkhandling, a Philadelphia toxic ash exporting company is forced to retrieve a shipment of its waste from Guinea. Originally intended for Panama, the ash was turned away by the Panamanian government and temporarily stored in Guinea after warnings of its toxicity came from Greenpeace. This was one of the first actions of the Greenpeace Toxic Trade campaign.

October 1988: Stopping Ocean Toxics

Sixty-five countries at the London Convention agree to halt all ocean incineration of toxic waste by the end of 1994, a victory Greenpeace had been working toward for many years.

December 1989: Victory Against Driftnets

After years of Greenpeace campaigning, the United Nations General Assembly passes a resolution prohibiting the expansion of driftnet activities and calling for them to be phased out in the South Pacific by June 1991 and throughout the rest of the world by 1992.

1990: Dumping Toxic Waste

The Lome IV Convention is signed, creating a ban on the import of radioactive waste to contracting parties in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific—a significant victory for the Greenpeace Toxic Trade campaign, which had been alerting African countries to the practice for many years.

1991: Protecting Antarctica

Antarctica is turned into a World Park through the signing of the Madrid Protocol—an international agreement creating a 50-year ban on mining and drilling in Antarctica. Greenpeace's nine years of campaign work, both at the negotiation table and through maintaining the only year-round non-governmental base on Antarctica, was the driving force behind the agreement.

September 1991: Disarming America

President George Bush, announces that all tactical nuclear weapons will be removed from active duty, another victory for Greenpeace's disarmament work.

1992: Chlorine Phase-out Recommended

The International Joint Commission (a joint Canadian/United States governmental body) recommends the phase-out of industrial processes that use chlorine-containing compounds. Followed by similar recommendations from a number of other international bodies, this is a major step toward Greenpeace's goal of ending the world's dependence on chlorine.

1993: No New Toxic Incinerators

After a decade of Greenpeace campaigns against incineration, the United States Environmental Protection Agency established a moratorium on permits for new hazardous waste incinerators.

1993: Banning Radioactive Waste at Sea

The M/V Greenpeace investigates and reveals Russians dumping liquid radioactive waste into the Sea of Japan. The action is a catalyst for the final signing of the London Convention, in which countries agreed to a permanent ban on radioactive waste at sea and to prohibit industrial dumping as of January 1996—a major victory resulting from 15 years of Greenpeace campaigning.

March 1994: Ending Hazardous Exports

At the Basel Convention in Switzerland, 65 nations agree to end hazardous waste exports to developing nations, a groundbreaking decision that was a giant step toward ending the practice by industrialized nations of dumping their waste in poorer countries.

1994: Whale Sanctuary Established

Greenpeace plays a leading role in the establishment of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary by the International Whaling Commission. The sanctuary protects 90 percent of all whales that would otherwise be subject to a resumption of commercial whaling if the moratorium were lifted.

1995: U.N. Fisheries Treaty

After several years of sounding the alarm on an approaching crisis, the Greenpeace biodiversity campaign achieves victory when the United Nations agrees to a precedent-setting global fisheries treaty, setting new international standards for fisheries conservation.

1995: British Columbia Clearcut Victory

The government of British Columbia agrees to implement significant changes to end clearcut logging in the region after a science panel study confirms Greenpeace charges that such logging is destroying regional biodiversity.

1995: Governments Agree to Curb Toxics

International governments agree on the "Washington Declaration," which calls for a global treaty to restrict persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Greenpeace had been campaigning for years for the phase-out of toxic chlorinated substances, which have been linked to such dangers as breast cancer and reproductive and developmental problems.

1995: Dioxin Burner Shut Down

Greenpeace's Toxics Campaign scores a victory as a trash-burning power plant in Columbus, Ohio–the nation's number one burner of dioxin–is closed.

September 1996: Test Ban Treaty

At the United Nations building in New York, all five nuclear powers signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

1997-2000: Toxic Toys

Starting in September 1997, Greenpeace released several test results on more than 200 vinyl toys in 17 countries that showed that these products contained toxic chemicals that could be dangerous to children. As a result governments such as Canada and Denmark and corporations including Lego have taken strong action to protect children from these products.

July 1999: Sea Lions Win in Court

The U.S. District Court ruled that the federal government had failed to take the necessary action to protect the Steller sea lion from becoming extinct as a result of the trawl fishing industry. Greenpeace, which had warned of the threats to Steller sea lions for years, filed the lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service.

April 2001: Great Bear Rainforest Is Preserved

After a lengthy, global campaign by Greenpeace and other groups, the Government of British Columbia in coordination with logging companies and First Nations endorsed plan to protect seven million acres of ancient rainforest.

May 2001: POPs Treaty Signing

More than 90 nations including the United States signed the first global treaty that legally requires the phase-out of twelve of the worst known toxic chemicals—a move Greenpeace had been campaigning for since the early 1990's.

Late 2002: Protecting Mahogany

During a Conference of Parties meeting of CITES in Santiago, Chile, mahogany is re-classified under Appendix II, which stipulates that in order for mahogany to be imported, it must be demonstrated that its harvest was not detrimental to the species.