November 2009

Don’t get us wrong – we like Canada.

Historically Canada and the UK have been allies and friends. But while the Canadian government probably isn’t top of your list of environmental villains, maybe it should be.

Just hanging around... our activists shut down a paper mill that was busy pulping the rainforest.

After building dams and shutting down bulldozers to prevent further deforestation, the team at the Climate Defenders Camp in Indonesia has swung into action once more. At dawn, climbers entered a huge pulp and paper mill in Sumatra and scaled the massive loading cranes, blocking operations at the mill.

As I write, the latest reports are that three teams of climbers have been removed and detained, while a fourth remains in place on one of the cranes. In keeping with earlier reactions to the Climate Defenders, they've been threatened and intimidated but they're still holding out.

Gerald Kaufman MP (far right) joins Manchester supporters in planting an apple tree to oppose the third runway

From small acorns do mighty oak trees grow. Okay, we've been planting apple trees instead of oaks, but the sentiment certainly rings true for the Airplot tree planting ceremonies being held up and down the country.

So what's more interesting? My post about f-gases, or some guy getting his kit off?

Sarah is in Kinshasa, visiting our Congo office on their first anniversary.

I write from our office in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In some ways it's very like any other Greenpeace office. There are pictures of the Rainbow Warrior on the wall, people on phones rush from room to room, journalists and cameramen walk in and out. There's a shout and we all crowd round the TV to watch one of our colleagues, Rene Ngongo, who won the alternative livelihood award a few weeks ago for his work in the DRC, giving an interview.

Contrary to the laws of physics, Tar Sands both suck and blow.

Express your displeasure (and tell the Canadian government to stop messing up the future of the planet) at
http://greenpeace-uk.thetarsandsblow.org/

Flooding in the UK - The river Severn in 2000

I grew up in Cumbria, so I've been following the flooding there, described by the Environment Agency as ‘unprecedented', pretty closely. Electricity and gas supplies have cut out in parts of the area affected. Dozens of people have been rescued by the lifeboat service. People have died. Environment Secretary Hilary Benn called it a "one in a thousand year event".

She's in London! (Live from the ship's webcam.)

If you missed the Rainbow Warrior during her visit last year, now's your chance to see one of the lynchpins of our global campaigns. Volunteers will be on hand to guide you round the 55m-long schooner and the crew will be able to share their tales of derring-do on the high seas.