Also by jamie

$4bn fund to protect Indonesia's forests while president announces partial halt to deforestation

Posted by jamie - 27 May 2010 at 3:48pm - Comments

Building dams at a Greenpeace camp in Sumatra. International funds and a moratorium would make this a thing of the past

While our campaign to stop HSBC investing in deforestation continues, events have been quickening at the political end. Money and a moratorium have been promised for Indonesia today, both of which are desperately needed to help safeguard the country's forests from further devastation.

Article tagged as: forests, indonesia, moratorium, norway, REDD, sinar mas

Slideshow: rebranding BP HQ

Posted by jamie - 20 May 2010 at 10:54am - Comments

A quick selection of images which have come in from BP HQ in St James's Square, where climbers have installed themselves to rebrand the company. Also included is the full page advert appearing in today's Guardian.

And you can submit your own ideas for BP's new logo in our competition.

Article tagged as: BP, climate change, energy, oil, tar sands

Landmark pact to protect Canada's Boreal forest

Posted by jamie - 19 May 2010 at 2:06pm - Comments

The good news just keeps on coming. Our Canadian colleagues (including several working here in London) are thrilled about a new, far-reaching agreement between campaign groups and logging companies which should see vast areas of the country's Boreal forest protected. As detailed on our international site:

"Today the biggest, most ambitious forest conservation deal ever has been announced: the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement. After more than seven years of hard-fought campaigning to end the on-going destruction of Canada's Boreal Forest, Greenpeace and eight other non-governmental organisations have agreed to a truce with the logging industry: we will suspend the battle for the Boreal.

Article tagged as: boreal forests, canada, deforestation, forests, logging, successes

HSBC forest policy has loopholes you could drive a bulldozer through

Posted by jamie - 19 May 2010 at 12:04pm - Comments

Given we've turned our sights away from Nestle towards HSBC, a few more details might be in order about why we've gone from chocolatey giant to banking colossus as the next stage in our campaign to stop Indonesia's rainforests being replaced with palm oil and paper plantations. It's a lateral step but then our intent has always been to tackle the palm oil industry at every level, from production to consumption and all points in between.

Article tagged as: forests, HSBC, indonesia, nestle, palm oil

Success! You made Nestlé drop dodgy palm oil! Now let's bank it with HSBC

Posted by jamie - 17 May 2010 at 10:28am - Comments

You'll never guess what. Nestlé has only gone and agreed to our campaign demands! And you've made this possible. We really, seriously could not have done it without you. Now we need to move straight on to the next big player in the palm oil industry - banking giant HSBC.

Article tagged as: forests, HSBC, indonesia, nestle, palm oil, successes

Acid test for the oceans

Posted by jamie - 13 May 2010 at 3:43pm - Comments

Ever wondered what this ocean acidification thing is? Wonder no longer, as this new animation from our international office explains everything you need to know in just over a minute.

The basic upshot is that climate change is not just making the oceans warmer, it's also making them more acidic. It's only by a relatively small amount so you won't lose your toes if you go paddling, but the effects on the ocean's chemistry is dramatic. Most widely reported is the threat this poses to coral reefs - as the water becomes more acidic, the polyps aren't able to create the calcium carbonate skeletons which form the reefs.

The consequences travel up the food chain - watch the video to find out more.

Article tagged as: climate change, emissions, ocean acidification, oceans, videos

So long, and thanks for all the fish: biodiversity in dire straits

Posted by jamie - 10 May 2010 at 5:52pm - Comments

The Chinese river dolphin is just one of the thousands of species lost in recent times (© Idolector)

The great Douglas Adams once said: "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." He was no doubt talking about writing deadlines but another deadline is fast approaching, one Adams would have been very interested in and one which is far more significant than whether a manuscript gets delivered on time.

Back in 2002, parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) - or in other words, most nations on the planet - agreed on a target to stem the loss of biodiversity by 2010, which by no coincidence is also the International Year of Biodiversity. There are still more than six months to go before that deadline officially expires but the results of the global efforts already being called and it's not good news.

Article tagged as: biodiversity, CBD, forests, oceans

Stand up for electoral reform and fix our broken parliament

Posted by jamie - 7 May 2010 at 3:36pm - Comments

This is going to be a bit off-topic but stick with me as given the circumstances I think it's relevant for this blog. That a party can get 23 per cent of the vote but only claim 9 per cent of the seats in parliament seems grossly unfair. As does the notion that another party can garner 36 per cent of votes, and see that translated into 46 per cent of seats. Yet, more or less, that's what our electoral system has delivered.

Article tagged as: electoral reform, parliament, politics

Dear Mr Clegg: an open lettter on climate change

Posted by jamie - 7 May 2010 at 3:12pm - Comments

As I write, the eventual outcome of the general election is still in the balance and with parliament well and truly hung (although I prefer the less pejorative phrase 'balanced parliament'), it's anyone's guess as to who will actually form a government. But it's clear that the Lib Dems are going to have a major influence on whatever form that government eventually takes.

Article tagged as: climate change, general election, liberal democrats, nick clegg, politics

Get your message to Nestlé in the papers

Posted by jamie - 5 May 2010 at 4:30pm - Comments

Kit-Kats use palm oil from Indonesian plantations - threatening orangutan habitats

Okay, so Nestlé has received tens of thousands of emails, not to mention hundreds (maybe even thousands) of phone calls about the palm oil in its products, but we're still not seeing much in the way of affirmative action. So how about putting a huge advert in a major international newspaper to remind the executives that we're still expecting to see some major announcements very soon?

Article tagged as: forests, kit kat, nestle, palm oil

Greenpeace UK