Inside the effort to protect the Amazon coast from oil spills

The Greenpeace ship Witness is currently in Brazilian waters in the Atlantic Ocean to kick off the Protect the Amazon Coast Expedition. Over the month of March, the vessel will sail along the coast of the States of Amapá and Pará, bringing researchers from IEPA (Institute for Scientific and Technological Research of the state of Amapá) to collect data on sea currents in the region.

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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">This Week</h2>
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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Banner making workshop</h3>
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<p>This week we are holding a banner making workshop at the Greenpeace office in Auckland. Come to be inspired, to learn, to paint and to meet some new friends. This Thursday August 15th from 6pm.</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img src="https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-aotearoa-stateless/2024/08/b074a796-banner-making-workshop-1024x576.jpg" alt="7 Greenpeace volunteers paint letters onto a large orange banner" class="wp-image-65520" style="object-fit:cover"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Greenpeace volunteers painting a banner for the March for Nature</figcaption></figure>
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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">New volunteer info sessions</h3>
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<p>If you are new to Greenpeace, or have never been to an orientation before, we have started holding volunteer info sessions. If you are local to Auckland, we hold these in person. If you are spread throughout Aotearoa, they are online. For dates and times check out <a href="https://community.greenpeace.org.nz/events">our community page</a>.</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img src="https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-aotearoa-stateless/2024/08/d2dccdcd-volunteer-info-session-1024x636.jpg" alt="A picture of a Greenpeace boat on the ocean, with the text Öur vision is a green and peaceful world" overlaid." class="wp-image-65528" style="object-fit:cover"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Volunteer orientation sessions can be in person or online</figcaption></figure>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">March for Nature</h2>
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<p>On June 8th roughly twenty thousand people, from all over Aotearoa, gathered in Aotea Square, Auckland and marched down Queen Street. All marching with a unified message to the Luxon government, collectively declaring that we are taking a stand against the proposed Fast Track Bill. Below is one volunteers reflection of his activism and his involvement in the March for Nature…</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img src="https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-aotearoa-stateless/2024/08/73c243b1-march-for-nature-wrecking-ball-1024x576.jpg" alt="A paper mache Luxon-lookalike swings atop a National Party-blue wrecking ball, surrounded by trees" class="wp-image-65522" style="object-fit:cover"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A Prime Minister Christopher Luxon lookalike has been swinging through Auckland atop a National Party-blue wrecking ball to promote the March for Nature protest on 8 June.</figcaption></figure>
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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Volunteer recap</h3>
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<p>I am Ryan Thomas, I recently moved from Taranaki to Auckland. Growing up I was a very vocal National supporter, later joining & then became a very active member of the ACT party and ran for the Lower North Island board chair in 2020. Following a perspective shift, I was hit with the realization that all our money will become worthless when the world is on fire. Without a healthy thriving environment, the rest won't even matter anymore.</p>
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<p>I began volunteering with Greenpeace in time for the March for Nature, and have taken part in both this and another project to protect Freshwater regulations which are being jeopardised by Christopher Luxon & the Coalition Fast Track Bill in favour of profit.</p>
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<p>Volunteering with Greenpeace allows me to work alongside some amazing people in standing up for the Environment & Wildlife in our Government's unjust War on Nature.</p>
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<p>My favorite part so far of my journey with Greenpeace has been marching up Queen St screaming in to a megaphone and having thousands of like minded passionate people chant back! As Well as all the mischief and camaraderie that comes behind the scenes.</p>
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<p>I have no idea what to expect next, but I look forward to providing a voice for the voiceless & doing everything I can to save this beautiful planet we are lucky to inhabit.</p>
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<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center">March for Nature recap</h3>
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<p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>Leading up to the March:</strong></p>
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<li>12+ events</li>
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<li>50+ individuals attended</li>
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<li>200+ hours spent</li>
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<p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>Day of the March:</strong></p>
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<li>80+ registered volunteers</li>
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<li>400+ hours spent</li>
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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">New staff introduction</h3>
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<p>Kia ora friends, if we haven’t yet met, I’m Charlie Lake and my pronouns are she/her. I am new(ish) in this role, and to Aotearoa. I originally come come from Vancouver Island.</p>
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<p>Back in Canada, I spent the last two decades working in the non-profit sector. Working for international organisations like Greenpeace Canada, Surfrider Foundation, and Habitat for Humanity. Now, I am thrilled to have the privilege of working for Greenpeace Aotearoa, based out of Auckland.</p>
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<p>While I am in this role, I am also pursuing my PhD in sociology at the University of Auckland. I strongly believe that knowledge without action is useless (and boring). I am super excited to get to meet you all and do some amazing things together!</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-medium"><img src="https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-aotearoa-stateless/2024/08/50d82a9c-charlie-intro-480x600.png" alt="The Greenpeace volunteer coordinator, Charlie, at a protest on Queen Street. She is surrounded by other volunteers, all wearing orange safety vests." class="wp-image-65524" style="object-fit:cover"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Charlie, the Greenpeace Community Volunteer Coordinator</figcaption></figure>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Monthly Updates</h2>
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<p>The intensive dairy industry led by Fonterra is Aotearoa's worst climate polluter. There are simply too many cows crammed onto the land, emitting huge amounts of methane.</p>
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<p>There are more cows on than the land can naturally sustain, so the industry relies heavily on destructive inputs like synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and imported feeds like palm kernel expeller.</p>
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<p>Synthetic nitrogen fertiliser is degrading rivers across Aotearoa and contaminating rural people's drinking water with nitrate. This is why for the past three years Greenpeace Aotearoa has been running water testing events across the country, testing for nitrate contamination in drinking water, and are calling for a ban on synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and for our existing freshwater protections to remain in tact.</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-medium"><img src="https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-aotearoa-stateless/2024/08/b7bdbb3f-sunny-ag-campaign-update-503x600.jpg" alt="A person presents in front of a projector screen featuring a large cow" class="wp-image-65526" style="object-fit:cover"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Sunny sharing a campaign update at our monthly volunteer meeting in Auckland.</figcaption></figure>
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<p>Palm kernel expeller is a product of the palm industry, and is used during the summer months to feed the dairy herd, when there isn't enough grass to sustain them. This dry, chalky product is closely linked to the destruction of peatland and rainforests, which is destroying wildlife and contributing to the climate crisis.</p>
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<p>New Zealand is the world's biggest importer of palm kernel expeller. We know what we need to do, we need to reduce the number of dairy cows in Aotearoa and transition away from destructive dairying towards resilient, ecological plant-based food production.</p>
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<p>And with your help we can do it!</p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Thanks for being part of Greenpeace Aotearoa!</h2>
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<p>If you have questions or would like more information, contact me at: <a href="mailto:charlie.lake@greenpeace.org">charlie.lake@greenpeace.org</a></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph --> — Witness, the Greenpeace sailboat, when it toured around the area of the Argentine Sea where the oil industry plans to carry out seismic explorations, off the coast of Buenos Aires, Río Negro and Chubut.

The oil industry is betting on advancing exploration in the mouth of the Amazon River Basin, but there are uncertainties about the impacts of the activity in the region. Coastal communities in the region are highly socio-environmentally vulnerable, and an oil spill could be devastating for the livelihoods of those who depend on healthy waters for their food source and income.

So Greenpeace Brazil is launching the Protect the Amazon Coast Expedition to support scientific research about the dynamics of coastal and oceanic waters to map out the possible pathways for oil to take in the event of a spill.

Oil exploration in the mouth of the Amazon River Basin

Currently, The Brazilian state-owned Petrobras is pushing to open a new oil exploration frontier in the region. The company is awaiting licensing from IBAMA, the Brazilian environmental agency. Petrobras had its request for authorization denied by IBAMA in May 2023, but appealed the decision.

A key factor in the licensing is the controversial oil dispersion modeling — one of the tools used to identify the risks of drilling — presented by Petrobras. The company claims that oil would not touch the Brazilian coast in the event of a spill, but leading oceanographers in Brazil are skeptical of the modeling.

Not only do researchers have doubts about this Petrobras claim, but so do local populations, who say they have witnessed the arrival of objects lost at sea reaching the region’s rivers and mangroves. The Protect the Amazon Coast Expedition aims to give the scientists and regional communities an opportunity to investigate the issue and assess the potential impact.

“Both the currents and the ecosystems of the Mouth of the Amazon River Basin – fundamental for generating income and livelihood to local communities – are still insufficiently known by science. In other words, we are facing an increase in pressure for oil exploration in an extremely sensitive area without even understanding the scale of the impacts of this activity”, says Marcelo Laterman, Ocean Campaigner for Greenpeace Brazil.

“How can we conceive of opening oil wells without knowing where a possible spill will lead? Or without consulting Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities, who also live under uncertainty about the impacts on their lives? The precautionary principle and the rights of People must be respected: without scientific consensus on the risks, there can be no exploration”, he emphasizes.

To carry out this monitoring, IEPA researchers will launch seven drifters (oceanographic equipment that emits GPS location signals) at different points in the mouth of the Amazon River Basin. This way, it will be possible to map surface currents on the coast of the state of Amapá.

The Amazon Reef

Beyond the vital importance to the livelihoods of the coastal communities in the region, an oil spill would be devastating to the recently discovered Amazon Reef. The discovery of the reef was announced in 2016 when a group of scientists published a paper about it. After a scientific research in 2017 aboard the Greenpeace ship Esperanza, the first images of the Amazon Reef were documented, proving the existence of the biome.

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<p style="outline-style: none; font: normal normal normal 12px/18px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; color: #000000;"><img src="/aotearoa/community_images//77/34977/23635_45386.jpg" alt=""></p>
<p style="outline-style: none; font: normal normal normal 12px/18px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; color: #000000;">Today an Amsterdam court judge turned the tables on Cairn Energy. Rather than granting an injunction against Greenpeace, he instead suggested that the oil company might actually like to consider releasing its secret Arctic Oil Spill Response Plan!</p>
<p style="outline-style: none; font: normal normal normal 12px/18px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; color: #000000;">Cairn’s lawyers looked dumbfounded and stuttered about not knowing why their client won't release it.</p>
<p style="outline-style: none; font: normal normal normal 12px/18px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; color: #000000;">The judge went on to say that BP's skimping on a second valve cost the world billions as a result of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. He said BP must regret that they didn't have their plans scrutinized in the first place because someone would have noticed the lack of a second valve. Safety is in everyone’s interest - by being transparent perhaps there is an opportunity to make the spill plan stronger. In fact, he asked Cairn, why they won't you release your plan? Right now? Why don't you release it now?</p>
<p style="outline-style: none; font: normal normal normal 12px/18px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; color: #000000;">We couldn’t have said it better.</p>
<p style="outline-style: none; font: normal normal normal 12px/18px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; color: #000000;">We'll try and get this news through to the eighteen activists currently in jail in Greenland. They were arrested after scaling Cairn's rig in the Arctic on Saturday to demand the plan be made public. For them this will be happy vindication of their action.</p>
<p style="outline-style: none; font: normal normal normal 12px/18px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; color: #000000;">Cairn’s lawyers used the same tired excuses saying they could not release the plan as this would be against the wishes of the Greenlandic authorities. However our independent legal advice shows that this is a load of rubbish.</p>
<p style="outline-style: none; font: normal normal normal 12px/18px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; color: #000000;">There is nothing whatsoever stopping Cairn releasing the plan.</p>
<p style="outline-style: none; font: normal normal normal 12px/18px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; color: #000000;">By this time the Cairn lawyers were sweating a bit but the judge still wasn't finished.</p>
<p style="outline-style: none; font: normal normal normal 12px/18px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; color: #000000;">He went on to ask how Cairn would pay for any oil spill clean up. He was highly unimpressed when Cairn’s legal team tried to reassure him that it had a cap on financial exposure. The judge said he didn't think the concern is over the health of Cairn’s finances - the concern is the impact on the environment and the cost of the clean up!</p>
<p style="outline-style: none; font: normal normal normal 12px/18px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; color: #000000;">So, now that the Dutch court is joining us and the 18 activists currently jailed in Greenland in demanding the secret oil spill response plan be made public.</p>
<p style="outline-style: none; font: normal normal normal 12px/18px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; color: #000000;">Cairn should cease drilling operations immediately. It does not need to wait for the final ruling to release the secret spill plan. They can do it now. Their claim in court that they cannot because Greenland is preventing it is bogus. Every minute it's allowed to drill in the Arctic poses an unacceptable threat to the pristine environment in a search for oil we cannot afford to burn.</p>
<p style="outline-style: none; font: normal normal normal 12px/18px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; color: #000000;">Cairn took a beating in the court room today trying to silence peaceful protest and hide from public scrutiny. The people of Greenland should be very worried about the kind of people who are drilling for oil off their coast. And their investors should be asking themselves just what it is that no one is being allowed to see, and how big a risk they are exposing themselves to.</p>
<p style="outline-style: none; font: normal normal normal 12px/18px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; color: #000000;">The Judge will make a final ruling on the injunction on Wednesday evening. It's not over yet - so watch this space.</p>
<p style="outline-style: none; font: normal normal normal 12px/18px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; color: #000000;">For now we’ll stay put here in the Davis Strait off the coast of Greenland.</p>
<p style="outline-style: none; font: normal normal normal 12px/18px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; color: #000000;"> </p>
<p style="outline-style: none; font: normal normal normal 12px/18px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; color: #000000;"><em style="outline-style: none;">Photo (C) GREENPEACE / Steve Morgan</em></p>
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</div> — One of the first images of the Amazon Reef taken from a submarine launched from the Greenpeace ship Esperanza in January 2017.

Back then, French company Total had applied to drill for oil in the region. However, IBAMA denied Total’s license, citing “deep uncertainties” with the company’s Environmental Impact Assessment. An oil spill would affect the Amazon Reef and its marine biodiversity. Greenpeace Brazil worked for nearly two years alongside scientists and local people from Amapá to highlight the risks that oil drilling would bring to the Amazon Reef. Now the region is under threat again.

Stay tuned to follow the Protect the Amazon Coast Expedition, the documentation of the rich socio-biodiversity of the region and what communities in the region think about the possible impacts of oil exploration. You can also follow this journey on the Greenpeace Brazil website (in Portuguese).

Here in Aotearoa, we also face the threat of renewed oil exploration with the climate extremism of the new Luxon-led coalition.

Climate Extremist Billboards in New Zealand — In the final days of the Conference of Parties 28 (COP28) climate talks in Dubai, Greenpeace Aotearoa put a billboard up near Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand depicting New Zealand’s new Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Act Party leader David Seymour as “climate extremists” in response to their plans for restarting offshore oil and gas exploration in New Zealand.

Already, over 20,000 people have signed our open letter to the oil industry to let them know that, despite this Government’s extremist views, we, the people, will not stand by and let oil exploration get started here again.

Add your name now!

An OMV oil rig off the coast of New Zealand

Say no to new oil exploration

Sign the open letter to the oil industry – We will resist oil exploration

Sign on

Inside the effort to protect the Amazon coast from oil spills

Oil exploration in the mouth of the Amazon River Basin

The Amazon Reef

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