Greenpeace UK blog

We need fewer boats and more fish to save our oceans

jamie — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:34:02 +0000

Numbers of bluefin tuna are rapidly dwindling

Image caption: Numbers of bluefin tuna are rapidly dwindling

I’m here in Bangkok at a gathering of hundreds of tuna business officials, policy-makers and even a few environmental advocates like myself. It’s been a long week of discussion about the future of the industry, including a lot about what we all call sustainability fish for the future.

Some of the key take away points of this conference are that:

every part of the tuna industry has a role to play in ensuring that there will be a viable tuna industry in the years to come;
tuna stocks are in decline. The tuna catches have been shrinking for several years even though there are more boats with ever more efficient fishing gear;
prices are very high. With the declining availability of tuna and increasing demand, the prices are going higher and higher, a key challenge for consumers and processors alike.

So what should the future of the tuna industry look like? Simply: fewer boats, more fish. This was our message to the conference – we need fewer industrial-sized fishing boats chasing dwindling tuna populations. If we want fish for the future, we need to change the way we manage our oceans today.

The tuna industry has to come up with a roadmap that will reduce fishing capacity. There are just too many boats and not enough fish. Large mechanised super boats are scooping up millions of tons of tuna every year.

The maximum amount of tuna that the oceans can provide without compromising its ability to replenish itself is being reached in tuna populations all over the world. The most destructive fishing methods are catching too many juvenile tuna, before they’ve had a chance to reproduce and reverse the impacts of overfishing.

My Greenpeace colleagues around the world are working to advance solutions to the oceans crisis. Too often, initiatives such as the creation of sustainable fishing industries are shouldered by the coastal states whose people depend on the oceans for food and jobs, such as the Pacific Island nations and the Maldives. The collapse of tuna populations would hit these states the hardest.

I have been having discussions with some of the conference attendees over the past few days. Some seem indifferent to our presence, but I have been pleasantly surprised that some have said privately that they are glad that Greenpeace is here. We have a lot in common with these industry officials: we all want ample fish and living oceans in the future. We sometimes disagree about how to make that vision a reality.

We are glad that we came too. Time will tell if the industry will take our message - fewer boats, more fish - seriously. Around the world, we are starting to see the beginning of a shift in the industry. Tuna brands, retailers and consumers alike are increasingly sourcing responsibly caught tuna and the market for sustainable tuna products is growing.

We will continue to campaign for an end to overfishing and end the destruction that is keeping the industry fishing itself out of existence. The industry can expect us to continue to monitor them on land and at sea, taking action to ensure that there will be fish for our common future.

Mark Dia is the Greenpeace Southeast Asia oceans campaign manager based in Manila, Philippines.

Latest: KFC campaign goes global

Bustar Maitar — Fri, 25 May 2012 13:04:02 +0000

This week saw the launch of new global campaign to stop KFC turning rainforests into trash, by cutting deforestation out of its supply chain.

All week Greenpeace activists have been taking the message to KFC while thousands of people around the world joined the revolt to end KFC’s secret recipe for rainforest destruction.

Our investigation team found KFC has been using rainforest fibre in their packaging in the UK, China and Indonesia and that they have been using paper supplied by Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) – the same company that Greenpeace exposed this February for having illegal timber in their supply chain.

The campaign kicked off at KFC/Yum’s’s Kentucky HQ – nicknamed the “White House” -- where US activists scaled the giant front columns to deliver a message directly to KFC executives. In response, like a headless chicken, different parts of the company said different things. Yum claimed that 60% of their paper is from “sustainable” sources – but then KFC later upped it to 80% in Facebook postings. Not the most convincing or consistent messaging. More concerning, the company doesn’t define what “sustainable sources” are. That isn’t really surprising given that neither KFC nor Yum have global paper buying standards or policies in place. “Sustainable” just becomes anyone’s guess.

Then, in the UK, a buffoonery of orangutans descended upon the KFC HQ in Woking to greet employees on their way into work in the morning and to tell them all about how the Colonel is turning rainforests into rubbish. A couple of hours later, they were spotted in front of a KFC on Oxford Street, where they occupied the storefront for 2 hours in the sweltering heat while Greenpeace activists talked to KFC employees and members of the public about how Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) is supplying KFC with packaging products that are made from Indonesia’s rainforests.

In China where KFC is the country’s biggest fast food company homeless orang-utans and tigers were spotted outside a KFC in Beijing, holding the banner “My home is NOT your disposable food packaging!"

KFC responded in the UK by boldly claiming that their packaging is 100% sustainable. How then do they explain the presence of rainforest fibre in their packaging and the fact that our research has categorically confirmed links between the food giant and APP, including in the UK.

A revolt is truly in the air as more and more people are getting inspired to protect Indonesia’s rainforests from KFC. If you haven’t joined the revolt yet then please do – just pick your revolting packaging character and share with your friends. The more you share the bigger your revolt will become and the harder it will be for KFC to ignore the global call to stop turning rainforests into trash.

Join the revolt now and be a part of the global movement to change KFC’s secret recipe for rainforest destruction.

LIVE: Orangutans take on KFC

petespeller — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:20:34 +0000

Orangutans deliver a giant KFC bucket to KFC's UK head office

Following the exposing of KFC trashing the rainforest to make fast food packaging yesterday, Greenpeace activists around the world are taking the message direct to KFC.

Follow the action live or join the revolt!

KFC executives have their heads in a bucket

Chris Eaton — Thu, 24 May 2012 07:40:51 +0000

KFC Packaging showing the name of the supplier PT Pinto Deli, an APP subsidiary

Yesterday we released a report exposing KFC for driving rainforest destruction and pushing tigers toward extinction. Sadly, KFC executives have responded by putting a big bucket of denial on their heads.

The company first said that 60% of their packaging in the US comes from “sustainable” sources. Then, they said it was 80%. Hmmm. Then, they started to claim that they don’t buy from Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) in the UK or US.

There are so many things wrong with this statements, we’re going to have to take them one by one.

First, KFC is clearly buying paper products that originate from APP. There is plenty of evidence in our report. I hope KFC executives take the time to read it. But, another way to prove this is with pretty pictures. Above is a photo of a box containing napkins destined for use in KFC. If you look at these napkins you’ll notice that the name PT Pindo Deli. This is an APP company based in Indonesia. Beyond this clear link, we had the napkins tested by an independent lab. You know what they found under the microscope? Mixed Tropical Hardwood wood fiber – in other words, the remnants of rainforests.

Second, KFC executives are using the word “sustainable” in a very creative way. Their mysterious 60%-80% figures seems to include controversial clearcut logging that has been criticized for years by conservationists. If this is what the Colonel calls “sustainable” he has a bad case of denial.

Third, KFC’s statement is specific to the US. This ignores its massive global operations. China – not the US – is KFC’s largest market now. And, buying policy standards (or lack thereof) made in Louisville affect forests around the world.

This is all getting way more complicated than it needs to be. KFC and parent company Yum! Brands clearly have problems in their supply chain. They can be fixed. Other companies have taken on the same issues and figured it out. A global policy that sets standards for the kinds of paper the company will buy – if properly implemented – would do the trick.

But, that won’t happen with a culture of denial. The first step is admitting you have a problem. C’mon Colonel…we know you can do it.

Want to help pull the bucket off the Colonel’s head? Click here to get involved and spread the word worldwide.

KFC’s secret recipe: rainforest destruction

Ian — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:10:30 +0000

KFC no good for rainforests

No matter what you think about fast food, you’ll no doubt agree that rainforests shouldn’t be trashed to make packaging destined for the rubbish pile. But that’s exactly what’s happening. Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) is supplying KFC with packaging products that are made from Indonesia’s rainforests.

The original Colonel Sanders couldn’t have imagined the company he founded in 1930 would be driving rainforest destruction half a world away from where he started it in Kentucky, USA.

But a new Greenpeace International report, ‘How KFC is Junking the Jungle’ shows just that. Thorough supply chain research and forensic testing has revealed how KFC is buying paper products made from rainforest fibre, supplied by APP. APP sources rainforest logs from the habitat of the endangered Sumatran tiger. Last week the company made what it claimed were 'new commitments' to protect forests. In reality it will still continue to rely on rainforest clearance.

Today we are launching a global campaign to persuade KFC and parent company Yum! to clean up their act by cutting rainforest destruction out of their supply chains. To kick things off we’ve released a new video showing the Colonel freak out as his famous secret recipe is finally revealed.

Meanwhile our activists at the KFC headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky have also given executives a wakeup call they couldn’t ignore as they arrived for work this morning. A giant banner with a Sumatran tiger has been placed on the front pillars of the KFC headquarters reading: “KFC Stop Trashing My Home.” The building, nicknamed “the White House” because of its resemblance to the US Presidential residence, looks out on a lake where another team of activists deployed another banner to hundreds of Yum! Brand employees with a similar message.

KFC and Yum! have done the least of any of the top fast food companies to rid their supply chain of rainforest destruction, ignoring the evidence and dragging their feet for years as we and others have tried to get them to change their sourcing. If endangered animals like the Sumatran tiger are to survive in the wild, companies like KFC cannot continue to turn a blind eye to rainforest destruction.

But a revolt is in the air and we need thousands of people like you to join it.

We know KFC and YUM! can do better. Help tell the Colonel that his secret recipe for rainforest destruction is ‘no good’. Right now people across the world, are telling one of the world’s biggest fast food companies that responsible companies don’t turn rainforests into trash.

Join the revolt today and help change KFC’s secret recipe for destruction.

Junking the Jungle: how KFC is driving rainforest destruction in Indonesia

franziskag — Wed, 23 May 2012 11:59:29 +0000

Our research has revealed that KFC is sourcing paper for its packaging products from rainforests. This has been confirmed in China, the UK and Indonesia. Products found to contain rainforest fibre include cups, food boxes, French fries holders, napkins and the famous chicken buckets.

Our research has tracked a number of these products back to Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), a company that continues to rely on rainforest clearance in Indonesia. By purchasing paper from APP and by using paper made from rainforests, KFC and its parent company Yum! Brand Inc. are driving the destruction of forests in countries like Indonesia. These forests are a key defence against climate change and are habitat for many protected species, including the critically endangered Sumatran tiger.

Unlike a number of other major international companies, KFC and Yum! have no sustainability policies to exclude commodities connected to rainforest destruction. In fact, the group has consistently failed to even answer questions about its sourcing of products such as palm oil, soya and paper products.

We are calling on KFC, and its parent Yum!, to immediately implement policies to exclude deforestation from their supply chains and to suspend the use of any products from APP while it continues to clear Indonesia's natural forests.

Join the revolt now!

The Energy Omnishambles

petespeller — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:02:17 +0000

A loop hole in the Energy Bill could see the return of coal-fired power stations

The government's flagship attempt to reform where our electricity comes from prioritises expensive gas and nuclear over renewable energy, doesn’t even mention money saving energy efficiency and is so complicated that even the energy utilities don't understand it.

The Energy Bill, published in draft form by the government yesterday, is supposed to do three things:

Bring down energy bills
Cut carbon emissions from electricity generation
Secure UK power supplies

However, the Bill fails on all fronts, what Malcolm Tucker from The Thick of It would call – amidst a stream of expletives no doubt- an "omnishambles".

The government’s reforms are skewed to fund up to eight new nuclear power stations because nuclear costs are soaring and new reactors are unprofitable for private companies. To do this they’ve designed a complex set of rules intended to dodge claims that they are actually subsidising nuclear power, because all main parties have agreed that there will be no new public subsidy for nuclear power. This is set to pile huge costs onto already struggling bill payers and critically undermine support for renewable energy.

The independent Committee on Climate Change has advised that the UK electricity sector must be almost carbon-free by 2030 if the UK is to meet the carbon emission reductions set out in the Climate Change Act. It’s nowhere to be seen in the bill.

What does appear though is a limit on emissions from power stations that will stop the construction of coal plants without technologies that keep the carbon they generate out of the atmosphere. Even this, though, is not immune from a whiff of the shambles that taints this entire bill.

The Government has so far refused to rule out the possibility that new coal plants built to test the experiment of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) will then need to abide by the limit on emissions if the CCS experiment fails. In other words, the limit on emissions proposed in the bill might bring back the spectre of coal plants like Kingsnorth polluting our skies and undermining our reputation as a progressive country on climate change.

To compound this – with a little prod from the Treasury – the Department for Energy and Climate Change is also giving an assurance to gas plants that they can pollute to their hearts content up to 2045, at just the point when it should be sending a signal to industry that the era of unconstrained emissions from all fossil fuels is coming to an end. Shambles barely covers it.

With recent household energy bill hikes overwhelmingly caused by expensive gas imports, the Bill would lead to a future of unstable, expensive energy. One measure that could actually bring bills down, energy efficiency, doesn't even get a look in.

The good news is that this is just a draft Bill and can be changed. We will be working with Friends of the Earth, WWF, RSPB and others to drag it into the 21st century. We’re going to need your help. Watch this space.

Actress Q'orianka Kilcher joins 7 day Amazon action

Eoin D — Tue, 22 May 2012 09:40:48 +0000

22 year old actress Q'orianka Kilcher climbs from a makeshift platform on the anchor chain of the "Clipper Hope" cargo ship and returns to the Greenpeace ship "Rainbow Warrior"

Image caption: 22 year old actress Q'orianka Kilcher climbs from a makeshift platform on the anchor chain of the "Clipper Hope" cargo ship and returns to the Greenpeace ship "Rainbow Warrior"

Actress and human rights activist Q'orianka Kilcher today joined the Greenpeace occupation of the anchor chain of a cargo ship in Brazil to protest the invasion of indigenous tribal land and illegal logging in the Amazon rainforest. The occupation is in its seventh day now and continues.

You can follow updates here, and find more photos of Q’orianka’s occupation of the anchor chain.

The 22 year old is known for her role as Pocahontas in Terence Malik’s 2006 Oscar nominated “The New World”, in which she co-starred with Colin Farrell. She also recently co-starred with Cuba Gooding Jnr. in ABC’s “Firelight”. Q'orianka's activism has already taken her to places like the World Peoples’ Summit on Climate Change and Rights of Mother Earth in Tiquipaya, Bolivia in 2010, and even jail for a peaceful protest at the White House in Washington D.C.

As long as activists occupy the anchor it’s impossible for the ship to dock and load its cargo of pig iron, a key ingredient in the steelmaking process. New Greenpeace research shows how pig iron is helping to destroy the Amazon rainforest and even contributing to slave labour in the region. The resulting steel is bought by global car companies for use in US factories.

Brazil's President Dilma is preparing to host the world’s elite in Rio a month from now. Dilma is this week considering whether to veto changes to Brazil's ‘forest code’ - a key law which has protected the Amazon for decades. It’s vital that she shows leadership to regain control and protect the Amazon. Q'orianka, who was tweeting today from the anchor chain, has also retweeted Greenpeace's call for Dilma to stand up and veto the changes.

Join: You can get involved here, or try our Find A Brazilian app to help get 1.4m Brazilians to petition their government for a zero deforestation law.

Apple responds to customers, starts down road to clean energy iCloud

Gary Cook — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:00:46 +0000

Apple is starting to rise to the demands of its customers

Image caption: Apple is starting to rise to the demands of its customers

Last week, after hundreds of thousands of Apple customers and Greenpeace supporters asked the company to use clean energy instead of dirty coal, it announced a significant investment in local renewable energy to power its data centre in North Carolina, US.

The announcement is a great sign that Apple is taking seriously the hundreds of thousands of its customers who have asked for an iCloud powered by clean energy, not dirty coal. It comes on the heels of a Greenpeace demonstration at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino where activists delivered messages from customers and supporters around the world.

However, there’s still so much more to be done, and we think that Apple can go all the way. Apple’s doubling of its solar capacity and investment in local renewable energy are key steps to creating a cleaner iCloud, but Greenpeace supporters and Apple’s customers still look forward to hearing details about how Apple plans to fulfil its commitment to renewable energy for its North Carolina and Oregon data centres in the US.

Apple is still one of US energy giant Duke Energy's largest customers, and will have to demand Duke provide the clean energy it needs to legitimately claim the iCloud is 100% powered by renewable energy.

Greenpeace will continue its campaign to push Apple and other IT giants like Microsoft and Amazon, to clean the cloud until Apple has policies to ensure that as Apple’s North Carolina data centre and others continue to grow, they will grow using exclusively clean energy.

To guarantee that, Apple must adopt a firm siting policy to prioritise renewable energy when it chooses locations for new data centres. Only then will customers have confidence that the iCloud will continue to get cleaner as it grows.

Out in the cold: why Shell's Arctic plans are a risky investment

Charlie Kronick — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:30:02 +0000

by. Credit: Marcin Wichary

Shareholders should question Shell's risky Arctic drilling plans

Image caption: Shareholders should question Shell's risky Arctic drilling plans

The past few weeks has been dubbed by many as the 'shareholder spring'. Chief executives of some of the world’s biggest companies – Aviva, Cairn Energy, RBS, and HSBC among others – have suffered as shareholders have expressed their very strong disapproval of high pay for executives, as performance has stagnated or even crashed. The new report that we, along with FairPensions and Platform, have released today shows just how much more shareholders and executives will have to worry about soon.

As the international oil companies like Shell run out of easily accessible oil, they’re being pushed to the environmentally destructive, high-cost oil provinces like the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the tar sands of Canada and the Arctic oceans off Greenland, Russia, Canada and the US. We know the risks of deep water and tar sands - we’ve been documenting the damage they do for years - and now Shell has picked up where Cairn Energy left off, leading the charge of the big oil companies into the Arctic.

None of the oil companies inspires confidence when it comes to drilling safety: there is virtually a 100% certainty of spills when drilling for oil, but the Arctic raises even bigger worries. The US regulator - the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management - estimates a one-in-five chance of a major spill occurring in just one block of leases held by Shell in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska. This would be worrying enough, but Shell’s level of preparation for any such accident isn’t just relaxed, it’s nearly non-existent.

Shell’s worst-case estimate for a spill has quadrupled from 5,500 barrels a day in its 2009 oil spill response plan to 25,000 barrels a day in its 2011 plan. When questioned by MPs from the parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee, Shell admitted it has no plans to test its well capping equipment in icy conditions, despite acknowledging ice may be present at the drill site. Hardly surprising, given that it's in the Arctic.

Equally worrying for investors is the fact that, when questioned by the same committee, Shell admitted it has not calculated how much a large spill would cost to clean up, despite the serious financial repercussions a large-scale spill is likely to have. Add into the mix the fact that oil in the Arctic is likely to be less plentiful – and significantly more expensive to extract – than has been predicted by the oil industry, leading oil industry analysts Bernstein Research to conclude that "development costs [in the Arctic] will be at the high side of the industry range. Development times are likely to disappoint."

Because of the huge environmental risks of chasing the last drops of oil – both to the Arctic itself and to the global climate – it’s not surprising that millions of people around the world are committed to stopping Shell’s Arctic expansion plans. What this report shows is that even if they don’t care about the environment, investors should be very concerned about the risks Shell is running with their money, and their future prosperity.

Links for 2009-11-17 [del.icio.us]

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

The changing face of China's coal industry
China's coal industry is becoming more efficient - and not in a good way.

Links for 2009-11-12 [del.icio.us]

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

Environmental lobby group accused of 'eco-snobbery'
It's "the eco equivalent of political correctness gone mad” according to aviation industry figureheads Flying Matters, as 10:10 refuses to let Manchester Airport sign up to its emissions reduction campaign.

Links for 2009-11-06 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

FT.com / UK - Heating up
A good summary of where we're at with the barcelona climate talks in the run up to Copenhagen from the FT.

Links for 2009-11-04 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

Climate Rescue Weblog: “Please save our home”
An update from out campaigner Bustar at the forests defender camp in Kampar.
Mèlanie Laurent joins the Climate Defenders Camp
Tarantino's latest muse drops in to the climate defenders camp.

Links for 2009-11-02 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

Climate Rescue Weblog: The King of the Jungle
Rob, who's been setting up the climate defenders camp in Kampar, tells the tale of swamps, big banners, and 40 degree hikes through the jungle.
Greenpeace International: Dam - it's even harder than it looks!
A detailed guide to how to go about damming an Indonesian peat-draining canal, in case you were wondering how to go about it...
Greenepace International: Kampar Camp Construction
A detailed guide to building your own climate defenders camp in the heart of the Indonesian rainforest.

Links for 2009-10-28 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PDT

When mummy is an activist - Times Online
Emma tells the Times what it's like balancing climbing up parliament with raising twins.

Links for 2009-10-27 [del.icio.us]

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Climate Rescue Weblog: Climate Defenders Camp
Our climate defenders camp is set up in Kampar - from Greenpeace International.
Climate Defenders Camp
Some background information about the climate defenders camp from Greenpeace International.