It was calm seas on board Greenpeace’s flagship, the MY Rainbow Warrior, as we hosted a gathering of friends from the environmental movement in Port Melbourne in November. The below excerpt is from a speech given by the Executive Officer of the Reichstein Foundation and member of the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network, John Spierings, on the night. Greenpeace is grateful to John for agreeing to share his remarks about courage, hope and using your power, in the true spirit of the Warrior.
What does it take to get a whole town standing up for a good cause? 16-year-old Grace brought her Apollo Bay community together to take a stand against deepwater oil drilling in the Great Australian Bight.
Equinor has vowed it won’t go ahead with drilling in the Great Australian Bight unless it can be done safely — but its own documents show that safe drilling in the Bight is a myth. The waters of the Bight are wild and stormy, and the proposed drill site is twice as far underwater as the Deepwater Horizon well — all factors that make oil drilling in the Bight extra risky.
The first time I saw an orangutan in real life, I nearly peed with fright! I heard a great commotion in the trees above me and there he was, swinging through the branches, his huge plate-shaped face staring down.
Did you know that new laws before the parliament could severely damage and prevent our freedom to speak up and say, “Hang on a minute . . . we’re not happy about these proposed plans”?
Water samples from our scientific research expedition show that even the most remote and pristine habitats of the Antarctic are contaminated with microplastic waste and persistent hazardous chemicals.
Food is fascinating. It sustains us, but it’s so much more than that. We use food as a way to celebrate, make friends and even make statements about who we are and what we stand for. Food production supports farming families. But the intensive production of some kinds of food is taking a heavy toll on our planet, our environment and ourselves. Here’s five ways the food system is broken, and how we can change it.
