“The IPCC’s recent report made it clear that storms and extreme weather events will increase if we continue burning fossil fuels such as coal and oil. This conference should carve a path towards abandoning coal and embracing renewable energy.“
“The International Energy Agency, the World Bank and the IPCC agree that we must leave the vast majority of fossil fuels in the ground. It is the only way to avoid catastrophic climate impacts. Yet, COP 19 risks being another missed opportunity to control the fossil industries. After 19 rounds of talks we still do not have the global rules we need.“
Maciej Muskat, Greenpeace Poland Director, said:
“The Polish government’s complicity with the coal industry is the exclamation mark behind the extreme weather events which will occur with even more frequency. Politicians are clearly on the wrong side of the fight – battling for the interests of the dirty fuel industries and not for the health and well-being of our planet and people.”
“The Arctic 30 [1] have shown the kind of courage, which is required to avert catastrophic climate change. Here in Warsaw, governments must stop dragging their feet and follow their leadership. They must agree to additional climate action before 2020 and to putting forward meaningful targets for the time after 2020 next year. Only by making concrete commitments can they lay the foundation for a fair and ambitious agreement in 2015, which must commit the world to phase out fossil fuels by mid-century,” Kaiser continued.
His statement comes a day after Greenpeace projected messages on six coal power plants across Poland. With the message “Storms start here!” climate impacts were highlighted, while the message “Arctic melt starts here!” symbolised the thirty men and women, who this morning, are being moved from Murmansk starting at around 5:00am Monday, local time [2].
Notes:
[1] http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/climate-change/arctic-impacts/Peace-Dove/Arctic-30/
[2] http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/press/releases/Transport-of-Arctic-30-away-from-Murmansk-begins/
Media:
For PHOTOS of the protest click here.
For VIDEOS use ftp.greenpeacemedia.net
Login: dvout
Password: 3e4r5t
Folder: 1311_COP19
For BACKGROUND on the activity, extreme weather events and Greenpeace expectations for COP19 in Warsaw click here.
Contacts:
Martin Kaiser, Head of Greenpeace Delegation
phone: (PL) +48 518 785 814 (DE) +49 171 878 0817
Email: 
Maciej Muskat, Director of Greenpeace Poland, phone: +48 500 236 210
Email: 
Tina Loeffelbein, Head of Media Relations COP19, phone: +49 151 167 209 15
Email: 