The end to large-scale industrial whaling was realized in 1986 and is seen as one of the few great victories of the environmental movement.

But commercial whaling could be set for a comeback after closed-door negotiations between 12 key countries including Japan and Australia resulted in a proposal to open the floodgates to whaling once more.

The proposal is to amend the schedule to the International Whaling Commission rules for a period of ten years. The proposal includes getting rid of the so-called “scientific” whaling loophole but would put in place quotas for current Japanese whaling.

It has been said that the quotas would be lower than existing whale takes, thereby saving whales. But this proposal also effectively legitimises Japanese whaling and opens the doors for more countries to put a case to undertake full-blown commercial whaling.

As a member of the 12 nation closed-door talks the Australian Government was closely involved in this proposal. It was released as a draft consensus document and further discussions are ongoing.

The Australian Government has released its own proposal to phase down scientific whaling in the Southern Ocean over a 5-year period. And it says that it will take Japan to court over its whaling if this is all not resolved by November.

However, if the proposed deal is signed at the IWC meeting in June, the whole basis of Australia’s legal challenge will be thrown into doubt.

Sadly, it seems the momentum seems to be going the way of the whalers at the moment.

You can find the full text to the proposal here:  http://www.iwcoffice.org/_documents/commission/future/IWC-M10-SWG4.pdf

What do you think?
Has the Australian Government gone soft on Japanese whaling?
Do you think it will follow through with its promise to bring legal action against Japan over whaling?

Send a message direct to the Japanese Government to ask them to end whaling.

http://www.send-a-whale.com/sendawhale/landing.php

The new blog is located at http://www.greenpeace.org.au/blog.

Be sure to change your bookmarks and if you do subscribe to this blog, you’ll need to subscribe to the new one. It’s easy to do — we’ve introduced an email subscription for those who don’t want to bother with RSS feeds.

This is the last post for this site. We’ll see you on the new one!

Linda comes to Greenpeace Australia Pacific after a long career as a medical doctor, cancer researcher and public health advocate. For more than 12 years, she held senior management positions in Queensland Health, including Executive Director, Population Health Queensland. She is highly respected professionally and personally within the field of public health in Queensland and nationally.

Her environmental cred is pretty good too. At the age of 21, Linda joined the Australian Conservation Foundation and got very active in their Queensland-based campaigns. She was a volunteer with The Wilderness Society and the Rainforest Conservation Society.

More recently, Linda has been Chair of the Queensland Conservation Council since 2001 and represented Queensland on the Council of the Australian Conservation Foundation (1995-97 and 2004-06). In 2007, she was trained by Al Gore as a climate change presenter and has since conducted 25 presentations to large audiences across the country and overseas. Linda says meeting AL Gore was “fabulous, very inspiring … I learned an incredible amount and my interest and motivation to do something about climate change expanded dramatically.”

Linda sees strong links between health advocacy and environmentalism. A few years ago, she got to see first-hand the health implications of climate change when she travelled to Nepal and India. She was there to work on a polio eradication program for the World Health Organisation and noticed just how much people living a subsistence lifestyle were dependent on the regularity of the seasons. She says the experience “taught me humility and helped me understand that the Western way of doing things is not the only way”.

Linda is perfectly primed to lead us to greater success with all our campaigns to create a green and peaceful future.

We also say farewell to Steve Shallhorn, Greenpeace Australia Pacific CEO since November 2005, who moves on to a coordinating role with Greenpeace International.

As part of the concessions to win coalition support, the Government has agreed to exclude Agriculture from the scheme indefinitely, while giving farmers the ability to earn carbon credits. At one level it is a positive thing to give farmers an incentive to reduce agricultural emissions, but not if it gives the big polluters another source of cheap offsets so that they can continue with business as usual - which it will.

Whether or not this concession is sufficient to win coalition support is anyone’s guess. The debate is beyond bizarre. On one hand, the climate sceptics have been coming out of the closet to oppose the scheme, whilst on the other, the Greens and most of the environmental movement oppose the scheme as well - but for completely different reasons.

As the central plank of the Australian Government’s response to climate change, the CPRS perversely rewards big polluters, ignores the science, and will result in Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions continuing to rise. Given the stark evidence from around the globe of a rapidly warming climate, this is unacceptable.

Rather than creating clean energy jobs, the CPRS will create jobs for lawyers, bankers and speculators. Rather than driving the transition to renewable energy, it will allow new coal plants to continue to be built, and will turn the longstanding “polluter pays” principle on its head.

Both the Government and the Coalition have allowed the short-term economic self-interest of the big polluters to undermine good policy, and our future. Many of the largest corporations operating in Australia, including BHP, Rio Tinto, Woodside, Alcoa, Xstrata and others, have put their own short-term self interest above the interests of the community and have undermined the scheme from the outset.

As Ross Garnaut said, “this whole process of policy making over the ETS has been one of the worst examples of policy making we have seen on major issues in Australia.”

It is time that our elected representatives on both sides of politics stopped using climate change as a political football, and it is time that the big polluters were banished from the halls of Parliament.

The CPRS does not need to be passed before Copenhagen. What is needed is for Australia to go to the Copenhagen meeting with a strong target to cut emissions by at least 40% in the next decade. And these emissions reductions need to be actual reductions in greenhouse pollution in Australia – not just paying other countries to cut their emissions or some kind of creative accounting.

A price on carbon has a useful role to play but only as one of many policies that will be required to shift to a zero carbon economy. The CPRS needs to go back to the drawing board and, as a matter of urgency, the Government must immediately begin work on a ‘Plan B’ that:
·    delivers policies that directly and immediately reduce greenhouse pollution;
·    lays the groundwork for a fundamental transformation of our energy economy;
·    increases Australia’s resilience to the increasingly harsh impacts of climate change;
·    builds Australia’s capacity to halve our emissions over the next decade;

We are rapidly running out of time to avert runaway climate change.  We need an action plan to transition to a zero carbon economy as soon as humanly possible, and we need to work with the international community to support other countries to do the same. We cannot allow old political alliances and battles to deflect us from this task. Our children are counting on us.

Rainforest and peatland destruction in Indonesia emits huge quantities of CO2 and has driven it to become the world’s third largest climate polluter. The peatland in this area alone stores approximately 2 billion tonnes of carbon, which will be released to the atmosphere when it is destroyed.

The activists will stay camped out at the frontline of climate change in coming weeks as the Copenhagen climate summit approaches.

Stay tuned to hear more from our team on the ground…

The science is clear that we need developed countries to commit to reduce emissions by 40% or more by 2020. When Kevin Rudd announced Australia’s target range of 5-25% cuts by 2020, he sent a signal to the world that even the richest, most prosperous and creative countries on earth are not willing to do what is needed.

Unless countries like Australia put stronger targets on the table, it is difficult to see how we are going to get anything other than empty rhetoric from Copenhagen. Kevin Rudd is in an increasingly awkward position of being “Friend of the Chair” of the Copenhagen talks, while clinging to his position of “enemy of the climate” due to his weak targets and relentless push for loopholes.

If you haven’t taken the time to make your voice heard - please take action now and let Mr Rudd and your local MP know that you want a strong climate treaty at Copenhagen.

Mark Walk Against Warming in your diary – Saturday December 12.

Sydney: Martin Place, 1pm.
Melbourne: State Library, Swanston St, Princes Bridge, 12pm.
Canberra: Federation Mall (the lawn between old and new Parliament House), 11.30am.
Brisbane: Location and time to be announced.
Perth: Perth Cultural Centre, Russell Squar, 11am.
Darwin: Location and time to be announced.
Adelaide: Victoria Square, Tandanyangga, 11am.
Hobart: Timbs Track, Upper Florentine, Gordon River, 12pm.
Launceston: Launceston Royal Park/Regatta Ground, 1pm.

Many regional marches are being organised across Australia. Their locations will soon be published at www.walkagainstwarming.org. 

In preparation for the event we’ve got some fun prop, puppet and banner making workshops coming up in Sydney and Melbourne. Ideal for kids and adults alike. Have a creative flair? Not a creative bone in your body, but keen to help Greenpeace? We’d love you to join us.  Places are limited, so RSVP to ensure your spot. Email workshops@au.greenpeace.org with the date of the workshop you’d like to attend, and the number of adults and children participating.

Prop, banner and puppet making workshops

Sydney:
Saturday, 14 November (1-5pm)
Sunday, 15 November (1-5pm)
Saturday, 21 November (1-5pm)
Sunday, 22 November (1-5pm)

Melbourne:
Saturday, 28 November (1-5pm)
Sunday, 29 November (1-5pm)

Watch this inspiring video from the alliance, conveying the human voice of climate change impacts.

There is a lot at stake. Arguably it is the future of the planet. Some countries are literally fighting for their survival while other countries are fighting to defend the status quo. The divisions between the rich countries that have largely caused global warming, and the poorer countries who in many cases will be the most affected, could not be more stark. So far the talks have been proceeding slowly but as the deadline for an agreement draws nearer, the tensions are starting to show.

Yesterday (last night Australian time), the talks were brought to a halt by the African group of countries who are demanding that rich countries commit to higher targets. They named the elephant in the room.

A ‘trust building’ lunch between the Umbrella group (chaired by Australia) and African nations ended with African nations walking out saying we’re dying and you’re not doing enough. Africans told them specifically that people were dying by the minute, ambitious reduction is not negotiable because the survival of millions of people depends on it, and if they
weren’t here to talk about numbers then it wasn’t the right place to be.

It must have a been a great lunch. You can imagine the head of the US and Australian delegations chowing down on big fat juicy steaks, while everybody else sat around waiting for their food to arrive. And the airconditioner was probably stuck on hot, with people gradually sticking to those awful plastic chairs you find in conference centers. And then, just as the Australian delegate was cackling hysterically at a US joke about starving children, the African delegates decided that the future was actually important, and got up and walked out.

Well, maybe it wasn’t quite like that, but the outcome was the same. At the G77 press conference, the Africa group put it bluntly: “When asked why they are not willing to put the number s on the table…they say its politically and economically difficult ….for us it is a questions of life and death, people are dying in Africa because of the actions of people in the west.”

And then they lanced the boil that has been plaguing negotiations for months. “ We are not ready to give annex 1 countries a blank check through LULUCF rules and the flexible mechanisms before they give us their aggregate numbers and individual numbers”.

Rich countries have put weak (or no) targets on the table and have been focusing on fixing the rules of the new treaty so that they can have as many loopholes as possible to allow them to continue with business as usual. They won’t put forward targets until they know how they’ll be able to squirm out of them.

Australia is a classic. First Kevin Rudd put out a target that was so low (5-15%) that it was only just enough to stop us being kicked out in disgrace, and then when it became clear that our low ambition had dealt us out of any influence, increased it to a highly conditional 5-25%. This is still far below what a rich country like Australia should be committing to and what African countries and the science demands :– 40% or more by 2020.

Australia is doing as much as anyone (apart from a couple of rogue states) to undermine prospects for a strong global climate treaty through our low ambition and relentless push for loopholes. It is remarkable that Kevin Rudd has somehow managed to position himself as a leader on climate change in spite of the reality of our negotiating position. Its not hard to look good on climate when you are compared to the US or to the Federal Coalition, but climate change can’t just be about spin or about public relations. There is far too much at stake, and we are rapidly running out of time

If you’re outraged at this idea: join the rally outside the NSW ALP Conference next Saturday 14th November. Meet at Town Hall at 12:30pm.

Climate change is an urgent threat but our politicians don’t seem to get it. Instead of investing in renewable energy they are continuing to prop up this filthy industry. At this stage the state government hasn’t ruled out gas for the two new power stations at Bayswater and Mount Piper, but one thing is for sure: whether they’re coal or gas, they will add millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases to our pollution output – at a time when we should take every step possible to reduce emissions. Building gas-fired plants will ensure that renewable energy is squeezed out of the NSW energy market. It is outrageous and immoral – and the state government needs to be held to account.

Public submissions have now closed on the Bayswater and Mount Piper proposals. Presumably the approval process will happen sometime in the new year. You can bet the government will want the approvals wrapped up by the time they sell off the state’s electricity infrastructure. In the meantime, they are seeking expressions of interest from possible financiers who don’t mind how dirty their money gets.

What can you do to influence this process? Well for one, get in your local MP’s ear about how outrageous this is. Tell them you want all new energy from renewable sources.

Second thing: come to the rally next Saturday! Meet at Town Hall and march to the Entertainment Centre, where the conference is being held.

And finally: if all else fails, and the plans are approved, consider taking part in peaceful civil disobedience to prevent construction from going ahead. At least that way you’ll be able to look into your own heart and your grandkid’s eyes, and know that you did your utmost best to prevent catastrophic climate change. Which is much more than we can say for our state politicians.

Last week Greenpeace launched the 2010 Truefood Guide. It rates over a thousand of Australia’s top food and beverage brands on their use of GE ingredients and clearly demonstrates the overwhelming rejection of GE food by the Australian food industry. Since the release of the first Truefood Guide in 2003, more than half of Australia’s top food brands have committed to non-GE policies. This year industry giants like Nestlé, Foster’s and Schweppes have joined the Truefood Guide “green” list. Companies are now seriously listening to consumer concerns about GE foods.

Importantly, most of the food brands that use canola have policies to keep GE ingredients out of their products. These include Goodman Fielder (Meadow Lea), Unilever (Flora), Peerless (Tablelands), Coles, IGA and Foodland.

The same rejection of GE canola can be found in our key export markets. Two major grain buyers, Elders and CBH, have refused to buy GE canola from NSW and Victoria this year due to pressure from the food industry in Australia, Europe and Japan.

In an interview with the Stock and Land Elders Toepfer Grain canola trader Felix Mueller said his company was not buying GE canola due to European resistance. “For export, GM is not workable,” he said. “You won’t get it into Europe and I don’t think the Japanese are particularly keen on it.” He said Elders Toepfer was not buying GE canola, as there was sufficient non-GE to meet their needs.

The buyers are also avoiding purchasing non-GE canola from silos handling GE material because of concerns that it may be contaminated. Segregation of non-GE and GE canola failed in Canada and there is no reason to suggest the same won’t happen here.

GrainCorp (the company that handles Australia’s grains) was also forced to reverse its decision to mix GE canola in with the main crop, following intense pressure from farmers and industry.

Over the next couple of months the WA Government will decide whether to allow the commercial production of GE canola. Please take the time to contact the WA Premier Colin Barnett and let him know what you think of his support for GE canola:

Honourable Colin Barnett MEc MLA
Premier; Minister for State Development
Address: 24th Floor, Governor Stirling Tower, 197 St Georges Terrace, PERTH WA 6000
Telephone: 9222 9888
Fax: 9322 1213
e-Mail: wa-government@dpc.wa.gov.au

The night will be introduced by a surprise guest chef and a marine scientist and will end with a fascinating discussion forum that will include our very own Oceans Campaigner, Genevieve Quirk, and speakers from the Nature Conservation Council of NSW and the Sydney Aquarium Conservation Fund (SACF).

All proceeds from tickets sales will go to the Nature Conservation Council of NSW and SACF.

Check out the trailer below and book your tickets now.

When: 6pm Wednesday November 25
Where: Chauvel Cinema, Paddington
Tickets: $20
To make a booking, email Sydney Aquarium Conservation Fund at: conservation@sacf.org.au or phone 02 8251 7875.

How much was all this worth? The report states that private meetings with cabinet ministers would set you back about $5000 - not a bad outlay to secure a filthy new multi-billion dollar industry that would create greenhouse pollution the equivalent of adding 10% to Victoria’s current emissions. Wish I had five grand - would see if I could knock Victoria’s emissions down a notch or two.

In the words of the oil-drenched mechanic, “there’s your problem”. The cash-for-chat scandal is a prominent example of how government policy on climate and energy gets made. The industry doesn’t always have to pay for access; at a critical moment in the emissions trading debate, Federal Energy Minister Martin Ferguson held a “crisis meeting” with heads of major polluting companies. The number of lobbyists stalking the corridors of Parliament Houses means that industry can easily outmuscle the environment movement. This is why the 20% renewable energy target will actually result in only 13% renewable energy by 2020 and the proposed emissions trading scheme would lock in high emissions for decades to come.

We’ll see climate and energy policies with integrity only when the vice that the industry holds politicians in is unclamped, the stranglehold on decision making is loosened, and the national interest is able to compete on a level playing field with multinational fossil fuel companies. But I’m curious - what would you say to Premier Brumby about exporting brown coal if you were cashed up enough to hold his attention?

The video says it all.

The Japanese government subsidises the loss-making whaling programme to the tune of US$5 million a year, making the embezzlement of whale meat exposed by Junichi and Toru a significant crime. But instead of the criminals behind the embezzlement facing justice, it’s the Toyko Two who find themselves in the dock.

It’s a politically charged case, and although the prosecutor has a duty to disclose all of the evidence for and against Junichi and Toru so they can properly defend themselves, much of the key evidence needed for their defence has been concealed.

This has forced appeals to the Sendai High Court and now the Supreme Court, the highest court in Japan, with the Tokyo Two and their lawyers repeatedly asking for disclosure. While some statements have been disclosed, most of the relevant information in them was blanked out. Additionally, a total of 15 pages are missing from important statements.

Even the very limited information which has been disclosed contains strong indications that explanations provided by the government in response to the embezzlement scandal were fabrications, and that Junichi and Toru were justified in intercepting the box because they were exposing embezzlement of large amounts of prime whale meat.

The Supreme Court is Junichi and Toru’s last chance to get disclosure of evidence that could further prove the embezzlement and, in turn, their innocence.

Take action

Please sign the petition to ask that the Supreme Court to order the disclosure of all material surrounding the whale meat scandal so that a fair trial can take place, in accordance with Japan’s obligations under international human rights law

Sign the Petition - Click here

The NSW Rees Government has recently announced plans to build two new massive power stations, one in the Hunter valley (Bayswater) and the other in the Blue Mountains (Mt Piper).

Last week, Nathan Rees indicated that he would prefer gas, but in reality the plants could be either coal or gas (with coal being the cheaper option). If approved, these two polluting monsters would create as much pollution every year as all of the state’s cars, buses, trucks, planes and trains combined.

This is madness. It is time we drew a line in the sand and said “NO MORE” to polluting fossil fuel energy. All new energy should be from pollution free, renewable energy.

The government is doing a token community consultation and we need to drown them in submissions so that this becomes a public issue.

Please take two minutes to make your voice heard on the Bayswater power plant and Mt Piper.

Here are some quick dot points you can use to cut and paste into the submission:
1. Climate change is an urgent threat and we need to rapidly cut greenhouse gas emissions, not increase them.
2. NSW doesn’t need new coal-fired power stations. Future energy needs can be met through energy efficiency measures and renewable energy.
3. New coal-fired power stations and associated mines will consume more of our precious and dwindling water supplies.
4. We should be investing in renewable energy and creating the clean industries of the future.
5. New coal plants are immoral and should be illegal.
6. All new energy should come from pollution free, renewable energy.

Don’t let the NSW government get away with locking us in for another 30 years of polluting coal power.

Submissions close on Monday, 26 October.

In Melbourne, several hundred people put off their lunch break to converge at Victorian Parliament House, home to a Government that – in a move that could only be either ignorant or contemptible of the climate emergency we face – wants to create a brown coal export industry and flog 12 million tonnes per year of the world’s most greenhouse-polluting fossil fuel.

Rather than quitting coal, the Victorian Government is trying to get the rest of the world hooked. That’s the international trade equivalent of a nicotine-addicted schoolkid handing out cigarettes to their mates.

In Queensland, a team of kayakers blockaded the Brisbane Coal Port today, demanding answers from the Queensland Government about how planning to massively expand it’s coal export industry could be justified in a world already being ravaged by climate change. We want to know why the Queensland Government won’t plan to break Queensland’s coal addiction and transition to a sustainable economy,” said Bradley Smith, spokesperson for the kayakers.

When you scan the policies being enacted by our governments, state and federal, a catalogue of climate madness is what you find. From plans to double Australia’s coal exports nationally, to actually constructing new export coal industries in Victoria of all places, which uses the highly volatile brown coal for electricity to the numerous proposed coal-fired power stations proposed to be built. How long such insanity can prevail will depend on how strongly the community rise up and demand real action from our so-called leaders. When we see the community jumping into action so spontaneously and frequently like this, it gives us all hope that we’ll turn the tables even sooner on our recalcitrant polluting industries and the governments they have captured.

Want to take action? Go for it! Here’s a couple of opportunities. On Saturday, thousands of community actions will take place around the world as part of the 350.org international day of action, calling for a climate deal to be struck at Copenhagen that keeps global CO2 concentrations to 350 parts per million or below. You can join an action near you or even add to the 4000+ activities that will be happening around the world. If you want to stay part of the action, our website has plenty of ideas for you to be a part of the community action.

As I have written about previously 350 refers to the concentration, in parts per million of greenhouse gas emissions in our atmosphere, that scientists agree is needed to maintain a safe climate. The Day of Action is for people, organisations, anyone in the world to get involved and come up with their own creative way of promoting the 350.org campaign. Using the number 350 as inspiration, people are baking 350 cupcakes, making 350 origami figures and loads of other fun creative activities.

Word is some of the Dirty Kev crew will be at the Sydney Opera House taking part in this exciting project. Yours truly will be in Newtown getting down with the Newtown Climate Action Network. In Brisbane there is a huge event involving 350 frisbees and 350 drums that sounds really cool.

You can find these events and all the other exciting activities here.

Are you on Twitter? Don’t forget that 09:00 –10:00 on the 24th (this Saturday) is Twitter hour for 350.org. Send a direct message to @KevinRuddPM with the following text:

Australia MUST formally adopt the 350ppm CO2 target at Copenhagen 09 - NO EXCUSES & NO DELAYS #350 #350TH

If you decide to change the text make sure you include the hash tags let’s make it a trending topic.

Let me know what you got up to for 350.org in the comments section below. Can’t wait to hear all the fantastic stories.

When talking about climate change I have noticed a tendency to try and paint your policies, especially the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) as acting in the interests of people, when really the CPRS is handing out billions of our tax dollars to big polluters. It is a bit rich Kevin.

I have faith in you to do the right thing. You know we are concerned that your name is going to become a dirty word, through dirty dealing at Copenhagen. I believe you are a compassionate human being who would not want to condemn Australians and the global communities to catastrophic climate change and be remembered in history as a coal pusher.

We’ve seen how well you can manipulate numbers, produce amazing rhetoric and make grandiose statements. Now let’s see how much of a leader you can really be. Can you use your smarts, your golden tongue and your power to make real change? Are you brave enough to drop the act and make the changes you claim you want to see?

Up to you Kev, leader or dealer? Do it for me, it is my birthday after all.

[Editorial note: Today was not only Meg’s birthday, but Blog Action Day. And the theme was Climate Change. Soooo, as a birthday present for her we asked her to do a blog … on climate change and her birthday.

Thousands of other people around this world of ours are blogging about climate change today. You can take a look at what other people wrote here.]

[Editorial note 2: Oh and Meg is still walking around wearing her birthday hat.]

Come along to the Greenpeace warehouse and make props, puppets and banners for Walk Against Warming.

The walk takes place on 12 December, coinciding with an International Day of Action in the middle of global climate talks at Copenhagen. We will be making some great props to add to the colour and fun of the day.

Places are limited, so RSVP to ensure your spot.

To RSVP send an email to workshops@au.greenpeace.org with the date of the workshop you’d like to attend, and the number of adults and children participating.

Sydney dates

Saturday, 14 November (1-5pm)
Sunday, 15 November (1-5pm)
Saturday, 21 November (1-5pm)
Sunday, 22 November (1-5pm)

Melbourne dates

Saturday, 28 November (1-5pm)
Sunday, 29 November (1-5pm)

Don’t forget to mark the Walk Against Warming in your diary – 12 December.