Sir Paul McCartney, Jack White, Penelope Cruz, Robert Redford, Edward Norton, boy band One Direction and dozens of other famous names are demanding that the uninhabited area around the North Pole be legally protected by the UN and made off-limits to polluters. The figures from across the world include Radiohead, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Emily Blunt, Baaba Maal, Javier Bardem, Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel and some of China’s most famous musicians. The list includes nine Oscar winners, ten Golden Globe winners and five Grammy Award winners (details below).
In 2007 Russian explorer Artur Chilingarov planted a Russian flag on the seabed beneath the pole and ‘claimed’ it for Moscow (2). Wikileaks documents later revealed he was acting on the instructions of the Russian Government (3). Now Greenpeace is planting the names of a million global citizens beneath the pole and marking the spot with a Flag for the Future designed by children in a global competition organised by the ten million-strong Girl Guide movement.
The focus of the Greenpeace campaign will initially be on pushing for a UN resolution demanding a global sanctuary around the pole, and a ban on oil drilling and unsustainable fishing in the wider Arctic. Twenty years ago in Antarctica – at the other end of the Earth – something similar was created when the mining industry was banned from operating there and the continent was dedicated to science and research.
As dawn broke in the Pacific, an Arctic Rising began as polar bears began descending on famous buildings across the world. The Arctic Rising is following the sun across the globe and has already seen polar bears at Sydney Harbour Opera House, on the Great Wall of China, visiting the Kremlin, the Reichstag in Berlin, the Vatican, Big Ben in London, climbing City Hall in Brussels and setting up a “homeless polar bear” camp in Copenhagen Harbour alongside the Queen’s vessel. Bears are on the William Tell statue in Switzerland, and Niagara Falls, while 23 Greenpeace activists were arrested in front of Shell’s headquarters in The Hague. Then as the sun rose in Rio, the world’s biggest polar bear – a 12m balloon – sailed in front of the Christ the Redeemer statue and the campaign to Save the Arctic began.
The campaign was launched today because the Arctic Circle is defined as the area of the globe which on the longest day – June 21st – experiences 24 hours of sunlight. On June 21st the sun never sets on the Arctic. Anybody in the world can add their name to the Arctic Scroll and have their name planted beneath the pole by visiting www.SaveTheArctic.org.
Rodion Sulyandziga from the Udega People and First Vice President of RAIPON (Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North) said:
“At present, the Arctic – one of the last unique and intact places on
Earth – is facing a real threat from active oil
drilling. A large scale oil exploration ‘development’ can irreversibly
destroy the virgin purity of the Arctic
region, putting at stake the physical existence and survival of Indigenous Peoples who, without their traditional
living patterns, without their eternal habitat, will have no future.”
Three Arctic states, the US, Canada and Russia were responsible for sinking an Oceans Rescue Plan in Rio which would protect the vulnerable marine life of the Arctic’s international waters and enable the establishment of a sanctuary in the area around the pole.
(2) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/6925853.stm
(3) http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/climate/wikileaks-reveals-arctic-could-be-new-cold-war-20110512
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Aaron Johnson, actor; Adriana, musician; Alejandro Sanz, musician; Alexandra Burke, musician; Andrea Elisabeth Rudolph, cosmetics; Annie Lennox, musician; Anthony Kiedis, Red Hot Chili Peppers; Baaba Maal, musician; Barnaby Thompson, producer/director; Bella Freud, fashion; Ben Barnes, actor; Bianca Jagger, activist; Boy Olmi, actor; Brooke O’Campo, arts; Bruce Parry, explorer; Bryan Adams, musician; Bubber, TV; Carsten Jensen, author; Chet Lamb, musician; Chocolate Rain, illustrator; Christina Cole, actor; Cilla Black, TV; David de Rothschild, explorer; David Heyman, producer; Dawn Olivieri, actor; Dev Patel, actor; Edward Norton, actor; Elena Roger, actor; Eman Lam, musician; Emily Blunt, actor; Eric Schlosser, writer; Fabiana Cantilo, musician; Fernando Trueba, director; Fred Lam, activist; Gabby and Kenny Logan, sport; Goldie, musician; Gustaf Skarsgard, actor; Hannah Rothschild, writer/director; Hoffmaestro, band; Hu Haiquan, musician; Hugh Grant, actor; Ib Michael, author; Imelda Staunton, actor; Jack White, musician; Jan Meek, explorer; Jarvis Cocker, musician; Javier Bardem, actor; Jeremy Irons, actor; Jesper Christensen, actor; Jesus Calleja, TV; Jim Broadbent, actor; Jiří Dědeček, poet; Jochen Zeitz, businessman; Joey Leung Cho-yiu, actor; John Carlos, sport; John Hurt, actor; Jude Law, actor; Klára Issová, actor; Kongkee, illustrator; KT Tunstall, musician; Laura Bailey, arts; Lawrence Chou, actor; Lawrence Dallaglio, former England Rugby captain; Leila Tong, actor; Lena Endre, actor; Lene Gammelgaard, explorer; Lily Cole, actor/model; Livia Firth, campaigner; Lucy Lawless, actor; Marta Kubišová, actor; Master Fatman, music/comedy; Miquel Barcelo, artist/sculptor; Miroslav Jakes, explorer; Natalia Oreiro, actor; Nick Laird-Clowes, musician; Nick Simmons, TV; Oh Land, band; One Direction, band; Oliver Parker, director; Olivia Williams, actor; Orsola Del Castro, fashion; Pamela Anderson, actor; Sir Paul McCartney, musician; Paul Simonon, musician; Pedro Almodovar, filmmaker; Penelope Cruz, actor; Peter Gabriel, actor; Petr Vacek, actor; Q’orianka Kilcher, actor; Raghu Ram, actor; Rajeev Khandelwal, actor; Raymond Khouri, author; Rebecca Frayn, writer; Ricardo Darín, actor; Sir Richard Branson, businessman; Rita Ora, musician; Robert Redford, actor; Sabrina Guinness, media; Saffron Burrows, actor; Sam Taylor Wood, arts; Sarah Burton, fashion; Sebastian Klein, TV; Shane Watson, media; Sharon Lawrence, actor; Shauna Redford, arts; Sherry Tsai, sport; Shin, musician; Simona Babčáková, actor; Sneha Khanwalkar, actor; Solange Azagury-Partridge, jeweller; Stella McCartney, fashion; Stephen Frears, director; Stephen Hopkins, director; Steve Jones, TV; Sugandha Garg, actor; Sylvi Bódi, model; Tamra Rosanes, musician; Thandie Newton, actor; Thom Yorke, musician; Thomas Jane, actor; Tim Roth, actor; Sir Tom Stoppard, arts; Troels Kløvedal, explorer; Tsang Tsui-shan Jessey, director; Uri Fruchtmann, filmmaker; Vivienne Westwood, fashion; Willian Tang, fashion; Woody Harrelson, actor; Xiao Wei, musician.