More than 150,000 people came to London last Saturday to protest against austerity measures and march for A Future That Works. The rally was organised by the Trade Union Congress, the national trade union centre in the UK representing the vast majority of organised workers.

The protest raised attention to UK’s long-term economic problems and to the fact that the UK will see less jobs given that the government is focusing on the deficit. Trade unions suggest that the government should aim to create new jobs, especially for young people, and encourage companies to raise pay, penalise big bonuses and invest in training and long-term growth.

Among the speakers at the event was also Ed Miliband, Leader of Labour Party, and before I got on the stage we had a brief conversation. I took th... Read more >

‘Clicktivism’ has come of age as the digital driver of the #PowerOfWe. Malcolm Gladwell’s infamous dismissal of online activism as ineffective signature gathering missed the point in 2010, when he coined the phrase; sharing information, crowd sourcing concerns and solutions are driving change and are amongst the hallmarks of campaigning 2.0.

More than two billion people have access to the Internet, apparently eight new people are getting connected every second. Roughly a billion people are on Facebook, where they like, share, debate, inform and alter decisions that are being taken about our common future.

We, at Greenpeace, no longer simply count our supporters as those who donate money. Our thinking has evolved and embraced the ‘power of we’. There are millions making up the ‘... Read more >

What is peace? In a world at times ravaged by armed conflict, from Africa to Asia, is peace simply an absence of war? Or is there more to it than that?

Today, on the International Day of Peace, it is important to reflect on some of these questions, particularly for an organisation like Greenpeace, whose founding values revolve around the defence of peace and a wide understanding that the issues of ecology and peace are two sides of the same coin.

Greenpeace is joining hands today with members of the global NGO coalition ‘Peace One Day’s Global Truce 2012’, in the simple objective of calling for and working towards a global day of ceasefire and non-violence.

Thousands of people across the world are dying as a result of senseless armed conflict. Many more also are dying in equally... Read more >

Dear Mr. President,

I write these lines to you on board the Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise, as we leave the Russian economic zone waters north of the Kola Peninsula. You may be aware that for the last 5 days people from our ship were engaging in a peaceful protest against the planned start up of
drilling for oil on the Russian Arctic shelf by Gazprom’s Prirazlomnaya platform. I want to personally assure you that these protests were in no way directed against the interests of Russia, of people working on the platform, or even against the company of Gazprom. These protests are
part of a global campaign that we have been carrying out for a number of years, protesting against oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean, from Greenland to Alaska.

Mr. President. It is my deeply held con...

When I spoke to my friends and family this weekend I was unanimously scolded. After Friday’s 15-hour occupation of Gazprom’s Prirazlomnaya oil platform in the Pechora Sea, they all said “you’re getting too old for this!” With blue hands and feet from the cold, and in the midst of being treated by our ship doctor Marcelo for hypothermia, for a moment I thought they could be right.

But then I returned to the spirit on board our ship the Arctic Sunrise; the eager faces of my fellow activists Sini, Jens, Lars, Basil and Terry, the determination of our Captain Vlad, and the rest of the committed crew who were standing up for what they believed was right. Coming back to this I knew that the risks had been worth it.

For me, an action like the one we’ve just completed in the Arctic is G... Read more >