{"id":25671,"date":"2019-10-02T14:04:26","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T18:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=25671"},"modified":"2019-11-06T03:27:03","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T08:27:03","slug":"how-and-where-greenpeace-is-campaigning-for-a-world-beyond-oil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/story\/25671\/how-and-where-greenpeace-is-campaigning-for-a-world-beyond-oil\/","title":{"rendered":"How (and where) Greenpeace is campaigning for a world beyond oil"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Global<\/p>\n

The sun is setting on the oil industry.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Around the world, people are standing up against the fossil fuel industry and calling for big changes to solve the climate emergency. We urgently need more sustainable and equitable ways of powering our societies and maintaining prosperous economies.<\/p>\n

Greenpeace is working alongside local communities in multiple countries to achieve a world beyond oil<\/a>. (And not just oil: we\u2019re working in Poland<\/a> and South Africa<\/a>, for example, to call for a phase out of dirty coal, too).<\/p>\n

Taking on the very powerful fossil fuel industry is no easy task. Just 100 companies<\/a> have been the source of more than 70% of the world\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988. For them, the stakes are high. But with the United Nations warning us that the world is headed for a catastrophic 3-5 degrees Celsius<\/a> of planetary warming if current trends continue, we\u2019re rising to the challenge with millions more people<\/a> around the globe.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a whirlwind tour of some of the places Greenpeace offices and their supporters are taking action on a transition from oil to clean energy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Philippines<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"(L)

(L) Fred De la Cruz, a fisherman from the climate-impacted community of Bataan protests in front of Shell\u2019s Manila HQ. (R) Activist Batangas drop a banner at the refinery of fossil fuel giant Shell, south of Manila.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Communities in the Philippines are challenging fossil fuel companies to show accountability for their role in the climate crisis. In September, Greenpeace activists and representatives from climate-impacted communities blockaded a Shell refinery in Batangas City<\/a>. Filipinos have also successfully petitioned the Philippines\u2019 Commission on Human Rights to launch a landmark investigation<\/a> into 47 major fossil fuel producers\u2019 responsibility for climate-related human rights abuses following 2013\u2019s Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), which claimed the lives of more than 6,300 people and affected millions more<\/a>. The results of the investigation (which names Canadian producers), are expected later this year.<\/p>\n

The United States<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Climbers

Twenty-two Greenpeace USA climbers form a blockade preventing the transport of all oil and gas through the Houston Ship Channel, home to the largest petrochemical complex in the United States. Their action is a call to the country\u2019s present and future leaders to imagine a world beyond fossil fuels and embrace a just transition to renewable energy.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Greenpeace USA is campaigning for a Green New Deal<\/a>, which includes a just transition to renewable energy, creating millions of green jobs and halting any major oil, gas, and coal expansion projects. Taking action alongside grassroots groups south of the colonial border, Greenpeace has opposed new pipelines<\/a>, blocked the largest fossil fuel thoroughfare<\/a> in the country, and stood up against unjust, anti-protest laws<\/a> pushed forward by oil companies. These kinds of laws disproportionately affect Black, Brown, Indigenous, trans, and queer people.<\/p>\n

Australia<\/h3>\n
\"Leafy

Leafy Seadragon (Phycodurus eques) at Kangaroo Island in the Great Australian Bight during the Making Oil History Rainbow Warrior Tour.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Greenpeace Australia is campaigning to defend the Great Australian Bight, an area off Australia\u2019s southern coast where Norwegian company Equinor has set sights on drilling for oil. The Bight is a <\/span>breeding ground<\/span><\/a> for endangered southern right whales and contains the Great Southern Reef, <\/span>85% of whose animals can\u2019t be found anywhere else<\/span><\/a> in the world. Exploratory seismic blasting <\/span>was suspended<\/span><\/a> in August and respected Elders and Nobel Laureates<\/span> have called on<\/span><\/a> Australia\u2019s government to place a permanent ban on oil exploration in the area. Hundreds of thousands of people have written to Australia\u2019s government and to Equinor to say the project will never get their blessing to drill in this treasured oceanscape.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brazil and French Guiana<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"World

Volunteers from many Brazilian cities held activities with giant puzzles on January 28th. The Amazon Reef is threatened by oil companies that want to drill near their location.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

When an incredible reef <\/a>was discovered at the mouth of the Amazon River between Brazil and French Guiana, it was clear to us that it had to be protected. French company Total was interested in drilling for oil, but two million people<\/a> took action and Brazil\u2019s government denied Total\u2019s license. But now, even after this historic win, another oil company (BP) wants to open up a new oil frontier in the region and the new Brazilian government has said<\/a> it\u2019s \u201cnot impossible\u201d for BP to get a drilling license. Greenpeace is campaigning to protect the reef<\/a> from oil development.<\/p>\n

Germany<\/h3>\n
\"#aussteigen

Under the motto “Get out of the Combustion Engine – Traffic Turnaround Now!” more than 20.000 people protested in Frankfurt, calling for a change in transportation policies to align with the Paris Agreement. The demonstration was organized by the alliance #aussteigen including the NGOs ADFC, BUND, Campact, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Greenpeace, NaturFreunde Deutschlands and VCD.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

In Frankfurt, at the International Motor Show in September, Greenpeace Germany worked with other environmental and sustainable transport groups to organize a massive protest against the internal combustion engine. About 25,000 people participated<\/a> (including 18,000 on bikes!), highlighting the role of the car industry in driving the climate emergency, including by lobbying against regulation<\/a>. In the European, Greenpeace is calling on automakers to phase out diesel and gas cars by 2028 and for governments to invest in renewable-powered public transport, walking and cycling infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Russia<\/h3>\n
\"Indigenous

Fyodor Moldanov, an Indigenous Numto community member, is against oil drilling on the wetlands of Numto, near his home and reindeer pastures.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

In Russia, Greenpeace is supporting<\/a> Indigenous communities opposed to the impact of oil development on their livelihoods and culture. The majority of the Nenets and Khanty people in Siberia were not properly consulted when Russian oil company Surgutneftegas made plans to drill in the wetlands of the village of Numto, where many among the reindeer-herding Indigenous communities oppose the project. For the Khanty, oil extraction means<\/a> wrecking the environment: heavy vehicles destroying land, which is difficult to recover in the Arctic, possible oil spills poisoning water and fewer places for the reindeer to feed on plants or wild herbs.<\/p>\n

Greenpeace is also taking action to stop new oil exploration and drilling in New Zealand<\/a>, Norway<\/a>,\u00a0 the U.K.’s North Sea<\/a> …<\/strong><\/p>\n

And, of course, Canada\u2019s tar sands<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The impacts of the tar sands are globally significant, which is why we campaign on them. According to a study of 50 countries conducted by Stanford University<\/a>, for example, Canadian oil is the fourth-most greenhouse gas (GHG) intensive in the world.<\/p>\n

Activists from countries like the UK, Switzerland, Spain and more<\/a> have asked financial institutions in their countries to stop funding harmful oil pipelines, including those that would expand the tar sands.<\/p>\n