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THE WITNESS
Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo making opening remarks at the People’s Arctic Council
The Arctic Council meeting in Sweden just wrapped up, and while we were thrilled to deliver photos of 280 global “I Love the Arctic” photos to the delegates including US Secretary of State John Kerry, we were disappointed that the meeting ended with no action to protect the Arctic. Continue reading
Opening remarks at the Peoples’ Arctic Conference in Kiruna, Sweden:
(Not interested in reading all the way through? You can listen to Kumi Naidoo’s speech here).
Greetings my friends, and welcome to the conference, the Peoples’ Arctic: Unified for a Better Tomorrow. My name is Kumi Naidoo and I have the pleasure and honour of welcoming you here today. Continue reading
As newly appointed U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry serves as a delegate on the Arctic Council, the only diplomatic forum dedicated entirely to the Arctic region. Secretary Kerry will meet with representatives from seven other Arctic states to discuss the environmental and biological changes to the area.
Greenpeace has worked hard to encourage Secretary Kerry to be a champion for the Arctic as the U.S. delegate. We even sent a cheerleading squad and a marching band to our meeting at the State Department in Washington, DC last week!
The Arctic faces imminent threats from climate change, oil drilling and industrial fishing, but Secretary Kerry has the power to protect it from all three. Based upon his Earth Day speech, Secretary Kerry plants to work hard on climate change and protecting our beautiful planet. It’s our job to make sure he doesn’t forget the words he spoke.
The science is screaming at all of us and demands action. From the far reaches of Antarctica’s Ross Sea to tropical wetlands in Southeast Asia, we have a responsibility to safeguard and sustainably manage our planet’s natural resources, and the United States remains firm in its commitment to addressing global environmental challenges.
-Secretary John Kerry, Earth Day 2013
Check back for live updates from the Arctic Council meeting next week. In the meantime, you can call the State Department directly and request Arctic protection.
While several of our international Greenpeace colleagues gear up for an epic journey to the North Pole next month, volunteers and activists around the world are preparing to take the Arctic to their communities and politicians.
As part of his new role as Secretary of State, Senator John Kerry will be a U.S. delegate on the Arctic Council. A champion for global warming legislation in the Senate, Secretary Kerry now has the power to advocate for Arctic protection through the Arctic Council. The quote below from the Secretary himself gives us reason to believe that he’ll do the right thing when it comes to Arctic drilling.
“This fight against drilling in the Arctic Refuge is a fight about our principles. It’s about standing up for our environment, our families and our future, and I won’t give up this fight.”
I’m in sunny Stockholm this week, spring is here for sure and woolly hats and gloves are yet again stored away for next winter. In a grand Natural History museum not so far from where I work sit scientists, Indigenous representatives, civil society organisations and senior officials from Arctic States to discuss new alarming findings regarding the rapid changes that are taking place in the Arctic and how that will impact those that live there and the nature and wildlife that they depend on for their very survival. Continue reading
Blogpost by Juliette H
The Arctic Council is meeting in Stockholm today, and government representatives will discuss the sustainability – or not – of Arctic oil.
We received this video yesterday from our colleagues in Russia who have just returned from a trip to the West Siberian oil fields operated by Gazprom and Rosneft to expose the true impact of oil in the Arctic.