Good morning Nelson,
How are things where you are?
It’s been a summer of troubling events, from the ongoing pandemic to the tragic chemical explosion in Beirut. You might also have seen the news that the last intact ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic collapsed last month: yet another reminder of the urgent need to act on the climate crisis even amidst the global health crisis.
But there are positive things happening in the world too. As a Greenpeace supporter, you’re part of creating the solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. And I’m writing to share with you some powerful victories you’ve helped make possible in recent weeks. Let me know below if they help boost your mood and inspire you!
Greenpeace Canada is taking the Ontario government to court!
In 2018, on behalf of Greenpeace Canada, Ecojustice filed a lawsuit against Ontario’s Ford government for illegally failing to consult with Ontarians before scrapping cap and trade. This photo was taken outside the court hearing in Toronto on April 1st, 2019. From left to right: Greenpeace Canada Legal Counsel, Priyanka Vittal, Ecojustice lawyers Amir Attaran and Ian Miron, and Greenpeace Canada Senior Energy Strategist Keith Stewart.
You heard right! We are suing the Ontario Government for steamrolling through its legal and democratic obligation to consult Ontarians before changing environmental laws. In July, the Doug Ford government passed an economic recovery act that included major changes to environmental laws. The bill acted as a smokescreen to sneak in the wishlist of regulatory rollbacks Ford’s business buddies have been seeking since before the pandemic began. Together with our co-plaintiff Wilderness Committee and our representatives at Ecojustice, we are demanding that the government respect the Environmental Bill of Rights and consult Ontarians before snuffing out key environmental legislation.
Total writes down $7 billion in tar sands assets
Paris, 2017: Greenpeace activists carry out an action at Total’s headquarters, warning the world of the damage Total could do to the Amazon Reef if permitted to search and drill for oil in the surrounding area.
The Canadian tar sands and oil lobby have one less friend: French oil company, Total.
News broke last month that Total has written down $7 billion in tar sands assets. In a dual blow to the Canadian tar sands, Total announced that it would quit Canada’s biggest oil lobby group, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), for its opposition to action on climate change. This move underscores the urgency of ensuring that COVID-19 stimulus plans grow a green economy and offer security and support to workers. As the world transitions away from fossil fuels, starting with the most polluting sources, the tar sands are hemorrhaging investors. It’s time we heard more from the federal Liberals on their progress toward the green stimulus plans they promised Canadians early on in the pandemic.
Spain’s last remaining coal power plants to be decommissioned
Last year, as part of the Rainbow Warrior "United for Climate Tour", Greenpeace activists protested at the coal power plant Los Barrios and placed a 30-metre-long banner on the harbour dock reading “Fabrica de cambio climatico” (Climate change factory). The action highlighted that to save the climate, fossil fuels have to stay in the ground.
After 30 years of campaigning, Greenpeace and our allies in Spain are celebrating the beginning of the end of coal. In a move that will mean all coal power plants in Spain close earlier than anticipated, EDP (Energias de Portugal) has announced its plans to phase out its last two coal-powered plants in the country by 2025 or earlier. Greenpeace will continue to monitor coal plant closures and hold the company to their word to ensure that no coal plants operate in Spain past 2025. Greenpeace is now demanding with even greater urgency that the government expedite the country’s transition to a 100% renewable energy model.
BP promises to reduce oil and gas production by 2030
Here photographed in June of 2019, Greenpeace campaigner Sarah North holds a banner reading "Climate Emergency" while floating in front of a BP oil rig on day 11 of the protest in the North Sea. Greenpeace is calling on BP to halt drilling for new oil in light of the climate emergency and refocus their business on renewable energy.
This is huge. By 2030, major British oil company BP says it will cut oil and gas production by 35-40%, increase renewable energy production by 20 times their current amount, and multiply their low carbon investments by ten.
This announcement follows years of Greenpeace campaigning, calling on the company to reduce its emissions by cutting its new oil and gas investments, and cutting its overall oil and gas production. Slashing oil and gas production and investing in renewable energy is what the rest of the oil industry needs to do for the world to stand a chance of meeting our global climate targets.
BP, like all other oil companies, must go further — but this is a necessary and encouraging start.
Greenpeace builds a barrier around the Adlergrund marine reserve
Here photographed on their third day of action in late July, Greenpeace activists sink granite rocks from the Beluga-II ship to prevent industrial bottom trawls from destroying what is supposed to be a protected ecosystem below. Protection can’t only be on paper.
Now this is the kind of direct action I like to see: simple and effective! After years of witnessing industrial fishing companies plough through the Baltic Sea’s Adlergrund marine reserve with impunity, Greenpeace activists have gone ahead and started building a granite barrier around it. The activists have strategically placed granite rocks around the reserve’s perimeter to block the industrial fishing industry’s bottom trawlers from indiscriminately raking up sea creatures from the ocean floor. This is just one of the actions taken in Greenpeace’s ship, Beluga-II, as it travels to the protected areas of the North and the Baltic Seas, on a mission to secure "real protected areas" — domestically as well as internationally.
New Zealand announces plan to phase out more single-use plastics
This ‘River of Plastic’ was photographed on Green Island, Dunedin as part of Greenpeace’s Toxics Tour back in 1991. Nearly 30 years later, the government of New Zealand has announced plans to phase out some of the most problematic single-use plastics. But more still needs to be done.
Good news from Aotearoa! After phasing out plastic bags, the New Zealand government announced plans this month to phase out hard-to-recycle plastics and seven of some of the most problematic single-use plastic items including plastic straws, drink stirrers, produce bags, tableware (e.g. plastic plates, bowls, cutlery) and non-compostable fruit stickers. This announcement comes after years of Greenpeace campaigning and public pressure. But plastic bottles, one of the biggest plastic pollution culprits, are still missing from the government’s clean-up plan. Over 35,000 Greenpeace supporters have already called for plastic bottles to be replaced with reusable alternatives — and we will keep up the pressure!
So there you have it, Nelson. Some good Greenpeace news from around the world that the support of incredible people like you helps make possible. Thank you!
So many of these stories reflect what I see as a changing tide. Even dirty industries are waking up to the immediate need to cut carbon emissions this decade. Let’s keep up the pressure — and harness the opportunity we have right now to create a green and just recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
With gratitude,
Christy
Executive Director, Greenpeace Canada
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