John West: all alone as the last supermarket shifts
by Simon Clydesdale, biodiversity campaigner
More great news in the tinned tuna campaign -Morrisons has now committed to move to sustainable methods. This means all major UK supermarkets are now committed to FAD-free or pole and line tuna. This leaves John West as the only UK company still clinging to FAD deathtraps. They've received nearly 50,000 emails so far and the pressure continues to mount. We are in dialogue with John West, and their futile resistance to change looks increasingly shaky.
In the meantime, we are developing the next strand of this campaign, so more on that soon; let's just say we're looking at who is one sandwich short of a sustainable picnic...
Go Beyond (Arctic) Oil
by Vicky Wyatt, climate campaigner
Two weeks ago Greenpeace volunteers intercepted an oil rig, the Leiv Eiriksson, off Istanbul, Turkey - it is the only rig destined for the Arctic to drill in deep water this year. The rig is operated by Cairn Energy, whose Chief Executive, Bill Gammell, has described Arctic drilling as "like going to a casino". But we simply can't let him start a new oil rush in the Arctic. The stakes are too high.
The Arctic is not only home to endangered polar bears, whales, seals, narwhals and other species, it also provides us with a stable climate. A spill in the Arctic on the scale of Deepwater Horizon would be potentially catastrophic. The remote location and seasonal ice would make it nearly impossible to contain and clean up a spill.
We must do everything we can to protect this pristine wilderness, and invest in the solutions. By cutting down our oil use, through cleaner, more efficient transport, we wouldn't need to drill in places like the Arctic.
Get Active: Whilst Cairn is leading an oil rush in the Arctic, the government is throwing the doors open to companies to drill in deep water around the UK. Last month a small company, Valliant Petroleum, applied to the government for permission to drill in waters to the west of Shetland, which is over a thousand meters deep. We don't want a Deepwater Horizon spill in our waters. Tell your MP exactly how you feel about this risky and unnecessary drilling.
Protecting Indonesia's rainforests
by Ian Duff, biodiversity campaigner
This time, last year Greenpeace was in the middle of a campaign to stop Nestlé buying palm oil from Indonesia's biggest forest destroyer - Sinar Mas.Following a customer exodus (involving Nestlé, Burger King, Unilever and many others), the Sinar Mas palm oil arm finally announced it would meet Greenpeace's demands.
Whilst this is great news the Sinar Mas pulp and paper company - Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) - is still trashing forests to make paper for packaging, tissue, books and magazines - much of which is ending up in our shops. Whilst APP has already been the subject of almost 10 years of NGO attention, we hope our involvement can finally stop APP from clearing forests that are important tiger and orang-utan habitats.
You'll be hearing much more about Sinar Mas/APP and the companies they are selling to shortly and I very much hope you'll be able to get involved in what should be a very exciting campaign.
Training events
If you want to be more involved in Greenpeace's offline activities in your area, such as our forthcoming forest campaign, you are invited to an introductory training to enable you to talk confidently to the public about Greenpeace's work. The next event will be in Nottingham on Saturday 14 May. Please contact greenpeacenotts@gmail.com for details and to book a place.
We always need your help to lobby politicians and business leaders. Sign up for an information pack about our lobbying training programme. Training days are scheduled every month, and the next event is in London on Saturday 28 May.
Thank you for all of your hard work helping Greenpeace campaign. We couldn't do it without you.
Comments