Mission Statement: Greenpeace is an international organization dedicated to preserving the Earth and all the life it supports. We work to protect the environment from nuclear and toxic pollution, to stop the threat of nuclear power and the production of nuclear weapons and materials, to stop the threat of global warming and ozone layer destruction and to halt the needless slaughter of whales, dolphins, seals and other endangered animals. The Greenpeace ethic is to bear witness and to take direct nonviolent action to stop atrocities against the environment. Greenpeace does not work for profit, nor does it solicit government or corporate grants. Funding for our activities comes from concerned individuals like you.
Greenpeace International
Keizersgracht 176
1016 DW Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Phone: 31-20-523-6222
Fax: 31-20-523-6200
E-mail: supporter.services@ams.greenpeace.org
Web site: www.greenpeace.org
Greenpeace USA
702 H Street NW, 300
Washington, D.C. 20001
Phone: 800-326-0959
Fax: 415-537-2011
E-mail: info@wdc.greenpeaceusa.org
Web site: www.greenpeaceusa.org
Formed: 1971
Membership Cost: $10 a year and up
Chapters: 26 countries
Executive Director: Thilo Bode
From the Beach: 100% of revenue from individual donations
To the Beach: campaigns, 47%*; public outreach, 9%; fundraising, 21%; administration and communications, 23% (*Campaigns expenditure: oceans, 18%; forests, 12%; GMO, 8%; climate, 25%; nuclear disarmament, 17%)
Roots | Past Victories | Present Battles
Roots
Careen an inflatable raft into the side of a supertanker as it drops a barrel of nuclear waste above your head, sinks your craft to the bottom of the ocean floor and catapults your body like a rag doll into an angry sea. Suspend yourself by a rope from a low bridge, and like a car wash tentacle, block a huge ocean trawler steaming your way from passing through. Under the subterfuge of night, just before the detonation of a nuclear bomb, crawl on your belly into the testing site and, by cell phone, dare the government to set it off. Handcuff yourself to a harpoon gun and swallow the key while angry whale hunters try to wash you off the deck with high-powered water hoses powerful enough to break bones.
Sound like a pleasant way to break up the monotony of a 9-to-5 workweek? Tired of watching your screen-saver come to life as you nod off into cubical hypnosis? Maybe it's time you thought about becoming a Greenpeace activist.
It all began almost 30 years ago when a small group of concerned people was trying, believe it or not, to stop a wave. It wasn't the kind of wave that promised to spill across an Indonesian reef on a languid, summer day. This wave would be a tsunami, unleashed from an underground fault in the Aleutian Islands after the United States exploded a nuclear warhead on the tiny island of Amchitka. Armed with a humble 80-foot halibut boat, a dozen crewmembers and the intention to stop the test and protect the Pacific coastline, the Don't Make a Wave Committee sailed off to make environmental history.
"Our goal is a very simple, clear and direct one," stated Ben Metcalfe (who later became president), reporting for CBC radio on the morning of September 16, 1971, "to bring about a confrontation between the people of death and the people of life."
Although the Coast Guard boarded the ship and the crew was arrested before reaching the island, the dejected band of environmental warriors returned home to a hero's welcome. The test commenced, there was no earthquake, but the earth-changing power of non-violent protest -- inspired by the Quaker ethic of simply "bearing witness" to atrocities and thus forcing those involved to take responsibility for their actions -- was to become the trademark method of protest for the group that changed its name to Greenpeace.
By being "a pain-in-the-ass, even for a couple of minutes," the message sinks in, awareness spreads and change has an opportunity to take place.
A more dramatic challenge is collectively negotiating environmental issues with disparate governments and economies all over the world. Not all countries have the means or the will to relinquish their territorial sovereignty for noble, often costly principles of conservation. Nonviolent protests have proven to provoke violent action. Conflicts with France have proven to be lethal, as proven by the French Secret Service's bombing of the Rainbow Warrior ship that killed Greenpeace photographer, Fernando Pereira. The event stiffened Greenpeace's resolve and sense of purpose, but also revealed the enormous cost of drawing the green line.
By the late '90s, Greenpeace was facing huge structural change. The international organization reached an all-time high in 1990 with an annual budget nearing $50 million, boasting 4.5 million members worldwide. In 1997, by contrast, the glory of Greenpeace USA, a flagship chapter with two million members, was fading. With declining numbers (450,000 supporters), local offices were boarded up and staff cut from payrolls across the nation.
Audrey Cardwell, currently an Oceans Campaigner, sites the irony in the arrival of the Clinton administration in the '90s. The presence of an "environmentally friendly" administration allowed some people to feel less threatened by environmental issues and, subsequently, funding became scarce.
With such huge obstacles facing the environment today, one might wonder if an organization borne out of '60s idealism, with its cute peace-sign T-shirts and politically overstated VW buses, can really get noticed in the fray of media overload.
"It's true we've had to become more daring on our direct actions," Cardwell says. "If we don't hang a banner from the tallest building, or stay at the protest site for longer than two days, we may not attract the press. It's a never-ending battle, but it still needs to be fought."
What will the end of that battle look like? For its campy persistence in our environmental lexicon, for the academic litany of annoying doomsayer speeches and arrogant willingness to be mocked, ridiculed and whipped by frustrated government employees, it's hard not to group-hug Greenpeace a little bit, at least for what it stands for. It remains to be seen if, in her sunset years, the grandmother of the ecology movement will finally give birth to a generation of perpetually renewable grandchildren. Will her words eventually ebb with the rising toxic tide, or will they be enshrined on the crest of a whale?
"Remember," Cardwell says, "we all live downstream."
Past Victories
(1982) Helped establish an international ban on commercial whaling
After years of dramatic at-sea actions against whalers, the International Whaling Commission adopts a whaling moratorium. In 1994, an Antarctic whale sanctuary is proposed by France and approved by the IWC.
(1991) Establishes the Antarctic Treaty
Calling for an Antarctica "World Park," Greenpeace establishes the first non-governmental base in Antarctica (1987). Its presence and determination result in 39 countries agreeing to a 50-year minimum prohibition of all mineral exploitation, in effect preserving the continent for peaceful, scientific purposes.
(1992) Was instrumental in creating an international ban on high-drift nets
After years of protest and political lobbying against large-scale drift nets in the Pacific, the United Nations General Assembly's 1989 resolution becomes effective.
(1993) Participated in the London Dumping Convention
Permanently bans the dumping of radioactive and industrial waste at sea worldwide.
(1995) Contributed to UN Conference on organic pollutants
The Washington Declaration calls for a global treaty restricting or banning persistent organic pollutants (POPs, notably chlorine chemicals) at UN Conference on Land-based Threats to the Marine Environment. This follows years of Greenpeace campaigning to highlight the threats from hazardous substances.
(1996) Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty adopted
Greenpeace actions to stop French nuclear testing receive wide international attention. More than seven million people sign petitions calling for an end to testing. In 1995, France, United Kingdom, United States, Russia and China commit to sign CNTBT.
Present Battles
Actively opposing ocean dumping
Since Shell's decision not to dump the Brent Spar (an oil installation) in 1995, Greenpeace has continued to campaign against the sea dumping of oil/gas installations. In the North Sea, there are approximately 600 of the things, all of which, in the near future, will come to the end of their economic life and have to be removed.
Diminishing toxic runoff
Urban runoff into oceans and waterways carries toxics found in our environment today known as POPs, or persistent organic pollutants. Dioxin is one of the most poisonous POPs known to science. These substances are generally extremely toxic in small amounts and can bio-accumulate in greater concentrations in marine life. Diminishing toxic output from factories and cars that eventually end up in our waterways remain a top priority for Greenpeace.
Reducing the industrial fishing fleet
Pollack fisheries (think Filet-o-Fish) over-fished by commercial trawlers in the Pacific compete with harp seals and sea lions, threatening them with extinction. The livelihoods of small-time local fisherman, in countries like Mexico and Africa where maritime laws are "negotiable," are especially vulnerable to large-scale fishing. Efforts to halt this practice are ongoing.
Fighting the Japanese practice of "scientific" whaling
Despite whale sanctuaries and moratoriums, Japan continues to hunt whales under the guise of "scientific research." Ironically, Japanese environmentalists have urged their government to ban the import of whale meat from Norway (which can only be transported illegally) because the PCB levels in the meat are high enough to be classified as toxic waste.
Coral bleaching
When corals become stressed from warming ocean temperatures, the microscopic plants in the coral called zooanthellae are expelled from the coral, causing the coral to lose its vibrant color and "bleach." Coral bleaching can seriously damage or kill an entire reef system. --Jade Hays
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