Greenpeace projects Planet Earth First message to Trump on St Peter’s Basilica

Press release - 24 May, 2017
Rome, 24 May 2017 – Greenpeace Italy and Greenpeace Germany activists have today sent a message to US President Trump ahead of his meeting with Pope Francis, projecting the message of ‘Planet Earth First’ onto the dome of St Peter's Basilica in Rome.

The message, a parody of Trump’s America First government policy, calls on the US administration to commit to global climate action and the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. 

“Climate change is the ultimate threat of our generation and real world leaders are taking action now to safeguard our people. Trump must not be allowed to shirk his moral responsibility or renege on America’s Paris commitments. That is why we took action today,” said Jennifer Morgan, Greenpeace International Executive Director. 

“Ahead of his meeting with the Pope, we delivered to Trump a message that his first priority must be to people and planet, not the profits of polluters. Trump cannot stop the clean energy transition and should instead focus on accelerating it.”

In the coming weeks, Trump will decide whether the US will stay in the Paris Climate Agreement, the historic pact in which almost 200 countries, including the US, agreed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

"If Trump decides to abandon the Paris deal, he will not only harm the planet, but also his own country. In contrast to Trump, Pope Francis has made a clear stand for the protection of the world's climate, here and now, and we are here to remind Trump about that,” Greenpeace Germany energy expert Andree Boehling said.

In the first papal document, or encyclical, dedicated to the environment, Pope Francis said in 2015 that climate protection should be the world’s top priority. The Pope also called for coal, oil and gas to be abandoned in favour of renewable energy.

Ahead of a meeting of the G7 countries next weekend in Sicily and the G20 summit in Hamburg in July, Greenpeace is also calling for a clear commitment by all countries that they will not only meet but exceed their Paris commitments.

"The world expects the big G7 nations to respond to the great challenges of our time like climate change. It would be ecologically and economically foolish to try and slow down the clean energy transition. People across the world are demanding action and it’s time to deliver," Boehling said.

[ENDS]

Notes to editors:

Photos and videoavailable here: http://media.greenpeace.org/shoot/27MZIFJJPJSOB

For picture requests: Eva Petschull, phone: +49 174 131 33 23

Media contacts:

Andree Boehling (in Rome), climate campaigner, Greenpeace Germany: +49 151 180 533 82
Simone Miller, press officer, Greenpeace Germany: +49  171 870 66 47

For interviews with Greenpeace International Executive Director, Jennifer Morgan, ahead of the G7 meeting, please contact the Greenpeace International Press Desk,  +31 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours)

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