The energy and creativity of the Edinburgh group defined our activities in 2010, with plenty of campaigns to get our teeth into – including the palm oil protest, Go Beyond Oil and No Tar Sands. We rocked at festivals and reasoned with shoppers at Farmers’ Markets. And three activists faced the full weight of the law after daring to climb the Houses of Parliament in 2009. Read all about it…
The 55 activists who scaled the roof of the Parliament building in London in October 2009 – including 3 from the Edinburgh group – were sentenced on 23-24 March. The group had unfurled banners urging the UK government to ensure the Copenhagen climate talks were a success, and to lead by example by improving our own policies. The judge was very encouraging, and referred to the long history of protests in the UK and the importance of such actions. He also commented on the peaceful and civilised nature of this protest, but said he had to sentence according to the law by accepting the guilty pleas.
In April, the launch of the palm oil campaign saw two of our group travel to Croydon to stage a protest outside Nestle’s UK headquarters. One activist later travelled to the company’s main HQ in Lausanne, Switzerland. The campaign targeted the use of palm oil from plantations in illegally deforested Indonesian rainforests, supplied in particular by the company Sinar Mas. As one of the largest purchasers of palm oil worldwide, Nestle was a clear target. At both events, fetching orang-utan suits were used to illustrate one of the many species endangered by this illegal practice. The campaign was an overwhelming success as Nestle quickly agreed to our demands to source its palm oil more sustainably and, hopefully, encourage other companies to follow suit.
In the same month, within days of the General Election, we took the results of our Anti-Trident campaigning to the offices of Labour candidate for Edinburgh North & Leith, Mark Lazarowicz. Our street poll suggested 95% of Edinburgh people believed plans to spend £97 billion on new nuclear weapons was wrong, especially with the UK facing crippling cuts to public funding. Mr Lazarowicz agreed, declaring: “I voted against replacing Trident in the last Parliament and will do so again if re-elected”. He was, but Trident remains part of the new coalition government’s plans.
July saw Greenpeace return to T in the Park for a second year. Ten volunteers from the Edinburgh and Glasgow groups made their way to Balado for three days of camping, campaigning and… curry! From our tent in the charity village, we battled the traditional T in the Park rain and high winds and managed to continue the Anti-Trident campaign, alongside face-painting and competitions. We had a great response from festival-goers, with hundreds of signatures and competition entries, and thousands of Anti-Trident stickers handed out. It felt as though we’d engaged with a whole new group of people and left feeling enthused by the response. And the cherry on top? T in the Park organisers donated £2000 to Greenpeace after the event.
For many months, we took the No Tar Sands campaign to the Edinburgh streets – explaining the environmental disaster unfolding in Canada as the greed of the oil industry threatens not just the people and habitats of Alberta but the planet as a whole. At a talk hosted by Friends of the Earth in September, we heard Chief Lameman of the Beaver Lake Cree Nation describe the efforts being made by his people and their supporters (in shockingly short supply in Canada) to protect their land and way of life through various legal challenges. It definitely added fire to our arguments when we next engaged with the public.
In November, we smartened up for a special Greenpeace pub quiz. With a fantastic turn-out of five teams of six people each, the evening made £80 from raffle ticket sales and entry fees, and many Go Beyond Oil cards were signed on the night. Amusing (or not) team names included Ooh La La (wonder whose team that could have been?) and We came in a car (but we car shared). Question master Ivan put together a challenging syllabus, which at times proved a bit too much for our plucky competitors. Luckily, our Greenpeace team did know where the Canadian tar sands were (Alberta). But who’d have guessed the Austrians were so kinky (apparently engaging in the most oral sex in Europe)!?
As January 2011 draws to a close, we’re hell-bent on reeling in as much support as we can for the Tuna campaign, and putting pressure on Princes to end their unsustainable ways. Go to it, Greenpeacers of Edinburgh…
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