Sadly, all four of our climbers will not be coming back to the Esperanza after all. Jens, Sim, Timo and Matt are flying home to Germany, USA, Finland and Poland respectively. Their personal belongings are still on board and they are going home in spare clothes bought for them by friends in Greenland. I'm sure they'll be glad to see their families again but we're really going to miss them on the ship and we haven't finished our 'Go Beyond Oil' tour yet.

Yesterday we were hoping they would be back on board and Victor even made them a Welcome Home banner. I have sent them all the supportive messages people wrote us over the last few days by emai

l so at least they can read those when they get home. The atmosphere on board feels very mixed. We're feeling pretty down about losing four of our crew who we all became friends with over the last few weeks. But we need to remind ourselves of what we have achieved as we say goodbye to our four heroes today.

Every minute they were up there occupying the rig was another minute Cairn Energy couldn’t drill. We want to stop them sparking an Arctic oil rush. And at the very least we've made it less likely they’ll strike oil this year before the winter weather conditions force them to leave the area.

We shut down drilling by taking action on the high seas, but if dangerous deepwater oil drilling is to be stopped for good then action also needs to be taken in the world's capitals. Our leaders need to take us beyond oil, to invest in clean energy solutions for the sake of the climate and the preservation of pristine environments like the Arctic.

Later this month, environment ministers from countries bordering the North Sea will meet in Norway, where Germany is proposing a moratorium on new deepwater drilling. We're backing Germany's call because we don't want to see another disaster, similar to that in the Gulf of Mexico, happen at new deepwater sites across the world. And we need to go beyond oil to protect our climate.

Our journey continues…

--Lisa

Image 1: (left to right) Jens, Timo, Sim and Matteo - waiting to be deported from Greenland today - wearing clothes given to them by friends. © Greenpeace/ Sune Scheller

Image 2: The Stena Don oil rig in the Arctic - occupied by Greenpeace climbers for over 40 hours. © Greenpeace/ Will Rose

Image 3: Our four heroes getting some fresh air outside the police station yesterday while they were still in police custody. © Greenpeace/ Sune Scheller