February 2012

According to some people, 2012 is supposed to be a year of transformative events. Well I don’t know about astronomical alignments, the Mayan calendar and all that, but for us oceans campaigners, 2012 is definitely significant – for 2012 is the year by which the world’s governments should have committed to a global network of marine protected areas (MPAs).

At the end of 2011, before Brazilian government officials closed up shop for the holidays, President Dilma demanded final approval on the new forest code. This new proposal condemns the Brazilian forests and is a deal between government and agribusiness that was made in back rooms and secret meetings.

There never really needs to be an excuse to look at incredible images of polar bears in the wild, but today has been designated International Polar Bear Day by conservation group Polar Bear International. So to mark the occasion, here's a selection of shots from the Greenpeace archives.

As we sat anxiously in the office last Friday waiting for the 'we made it' call we never dreamed that four days later we would have witnessed such a massive media storm, such overwhelming global support and such tenacity from our friends who hung on so long.

Our ship, the Arctic Sunrise is currently in Mauritanian waters, to highlight the problems of overfishing emptying African seas. Vast factory-style fishing boats are trawling out fish at an alarming rate and decimating local ecosystems and livelihoods in the process.

Day three and (nearly four!!) of occupying Shell's drillship the 'Noble Discoverer'. (What a pathetically ironic name.)

Organised crime seems to pay quite handsomely, especially if you manage to be part of a profession that seems to be beyond reproach. That can surely be the only conclusion to draw from the group of 17 fishermen who were fined a mere £720 thousand in court today for an overfishing scam that effectively stole £63 MILLION of fish from our seas.

LIVE: Greenpeace activists are taking direct action against Shell's plans to drill the Arctic for oil. Follow the action live and support them by sending your own message to Shell CEO Peter Vosser.