Activism – Greenpeace Australia Pacific

The real reason people are obsessed with stopping Woodside

Greenpeace Australia Pacific — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 14:00:00 +0000

Last week, WA Premier Roger Cook asked “what is it about people’s obsession with Woodside?” Given the millions Woodside has spent on constructing the lie that it is a good corporate citizen of Western Australia, plastering its logo all across our beloved sporting and cultural institutions, it’s an understandable query.

It is also a question that deserves a clear answer, so here it goes: people in WA and around the world are increasingly focussed on Woodside because of the huge threat it poses to WA’s oceans and wildlife, and to our global climate.

There is mounting disgust at the impunity with which Woodside is being allowed to proceed with its destructive plans. As Tim Winton has said “we can’t keep averting our gaze and pretending that this isn’t happening”.

Just last week, Woodside got the green light from the regulator to start seismic blasting off WA’s north-west coast. Right now, Woodside’s blasting ship is headed toward WA’s coastline. Soon, there will be underwater sonic cannons exploding in the habitat of endangered whales.

As the shocking recent footage of beaching pilot whales at Cheynes Beach showed, cetaceans are deeply sensitive to changes in their environment. Seismic blasting is incredibly loud and can damage the hearing of whales, leaving the creatures unable to navigate, communicate or forage for food. A deaf whale is a dead whale.

And it is not only the whales. Some of the most incredible and pristine places in our oceans – jewels like Scott Reef, Rowley Shoals, Mermaid Sound and even the world-famous Ningaloo Reef – are all at risk.

Woodside wants to run pipelines and drill for gas on the fringes of some of Australia’s most intact coral reefs. Whether or not you’re an environmentalist, no one can deny the value of the billions of dollars these fishing, diving, and tourism hotspots bring to the WA economy every year. All that could be lost because of Woodside’s corporate greed.

Then there’s the straight out climate impacts. We’ve already seen our state and country burn, flood, and crack under unprecedented weather extremes, supercharged by climate change that is driven by the burning of coal, oil, and gas. It’s the same confronting story the world over.

Not only is Woodside perpetuating harm, it’s also stopping progress on solutions.

For instance, modelling commissioned by Woodside from the CSIRO demonstrated that Woodside’s gas exports risked crowding out the growth of renewable energy in Asia – this was a report Woodside tried to suppress, but journalists uncovered through freedom of information requests.

Woodside has also made claims about the local business benefits for its gas, which are baseless. Most of the gas from Scarborough and Browse will be exported so it won’t have a significant impact on the Australian grid.

And by attempting to lock in decades of future gas extraction, Woodside is crowding out clean energy, making it difficult for governments and businesses to invest in renewable infrastructure and supply. This makes it more expensive for polluting-but-essential industries like steel and mining to switch to clean energy, and means that West Australians get left behind as other nations take the prize share of jobs and opportunities from the global shift to clean, low-emissions energy and resources.

This is the context in which Woodside is pushing ahead with the Burrup Hub, which involves drilling multiple wells across two huge massive offshore gas fields and extending the operations of gas infrastructure until 2070.

Woodside knows full well that if it goes ahead, the Burrup Hub will be Australia’s dirtiest fossil fuel project, producing the equivalent of more than 12 times Australia’s annual domestic climate pollution. But Woodside apparently doesn’t care, so long as it can deliver short-term profits to shareholders.

Going back to the Premier’s question – which he asked in the context of some protestors turning up outside Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill’s house last week – it’s no wonder that so many people are obsessed with stopping Woodside.

And it is a shame that the protestors became the story – rather than that Woodside had been given the green light to blast the ocean.

The quiet frustration is growing, amongst ordinary people who are worried about the future and are fed up with Woodside being allowed to chuck a spanner in the works.

There is a rising tide of determination that the state’s future can be clean, safe, and prosperous – powered by renewable energy. The real obsession is with building that better future; which is why so many West Australians are now determined to stop Woodside. You can join them.

Tell Woodside it’s time to walk away from its toxic gas project.

David Ritter is the CEO of Greenpeace Australia Pacific

Meet Emma from School Strike 4 Climate

Greenpeace Australia Pacific — Thu, 04 May 2023 14:00:00 +0000

We spoke with Emma from School Strike 4 Climate on Thursday when she visited the Rainbow Warrior in Fremantle during its Whales Not Woodside Ship Tour to learn more about how she became involved in climate activism, what motivates her, and get her thoughts on Meg O’Neil and Woodside’s Burrup Hub gas expansion.

Emma from SS4C seated at the bow of the Rainbow Warrior at dusk in Fremantle, 27 April 2023.||Greenpeace and community paddle out in Fremantle WA for #WhalesnotWoodside. credit line: © Michael Lutman / Greenpeace

Emma from SS4C seated at the bow of the Rainbow Warrior at dusk in Fremantle, 27 April 2023.

What is your name? Emma. I’m 16.

Where did you grow up? Margaret River – I love the ocean there, the trees and the community is really nice. I’m glad I live there.

Describe how you got involved in climate activism. When I was 13 or so we watched a David Attenborough documentary in class. It was called ‘A Life On Our Planet’ and there was a scene where he went through what would happen in 40 years if we did not meet our global 1.5 degree global warming target. Fires, floods, trees, no animals. This really really shocked me – so much doom and gloom. But then he started talking about solutions and I remember thinking they all seemed really easy. Really achievable, and they would make a much better world. So I struggled to understand why we weren’t doing any of those things, why our politicians kept ignoring the calls for change and continued leading us down an irreversible path towards an unsafe climate. That summer we had the 2020 bushfires. I was over east and saw the Hawkesbury covered in smoke and became increasingly frustrated by watching Scott Morrison, his inaction, and the way he ignored climate affected communities, the way he kept blocking and delaying climate justice. That’s when I started googling climate organisations and found School Strike 4 Climate. I learned about the Fund Our Future Not Gas campaign that SS4C was running. Scomo in the budget after the recession at that time was all “gas lead recovery” for the economy. I’m no economist but I knew that sounded like a terrible plan.

Do you have any particular anecdote or story about becoming an activist that you’d like to tell? Are there any special moments that stand out? The May 21st strike in 2021 was really crazy for me. I was 14 and had never done any community organising before. I helped to organise a Friday School Strike in the park. I remember going through permits and learning everything from scratch. But on the day, seeing friends and volunteers all turning up to the strike to stand together for climate justice, against dangerous gas was incredible. We’re just a small town but on that day it felt so powerful. It’s still one of my favourite moments. The community you make and meet through this work is so beautiful. Just hugging people and feeling lucky, so proud of this movement is one of my favourite things – there is so much love and support. Since then I’ve met some incredible mentors. Anybody that has worked at School Strike – graduated strikers and adults. I’ve learnt so much from them, and I’m so grateful.

What are you doing at SS4C? Describe how you got involved. Right now, locally we are in the process of conducting a survey to learn more about what people want to see in the Federal budget. Our Federal MP hasn’t really been very engaged with our community and listened or advocated for us. So we’re organising a big visual art installation of what our community wants to see in the Federal Budget so they won’t be able to miss it. This is in my electorate of Forrest.

Have you witnessed anything that makes you especially anxious about climate change?

Fires and seeing the impact it has on communities. When a fire happens it affects everyone. I’ve watched friends evacuate their whole lives. Politicians making big decisions that have big implications – new fossil fuel project approvals, like the process currently underway for Woodside’s Burrup Hub.

What gives you hope? The community in the climate movement and everyone I work with. Walking to be a proxy at Woodside’s shareholder meeting and seeing everyone there protesting, being so strong and staunch. I am so proud of everyone I get to organise with, seeing people everywhere, particularly my friends, organising things across the country to fight for climate justice makes me so hopeful – that we can build a better, more just future.

What do you know about Burrup Hub? I know its emissions will be 4 x times bigger than Adani – bigger than Australia’s national emissions combined with 6 x times Australia’s annual climate pollution. A lot of people have been outraged recently over the Willow project in America being approved – I watch their jaws drop when they find out that the Burrup Hub is 14 x times bigger in emissions than that. Burrup Hub’s climate change impacts have real and more tangible impacts on communities across the country. It has the potential to harm our oceans and reef, and damage First Nations’ Country. I love open water swimming and do this every weekend at Gnarabup and this alone is enough to make me angry. Imagine what it feels like to have your sacred spaces threatened or destroyed?

What would you like to say to Woodside ahead of the Paddle Out?

To Meg O’Neil – how do you stand there looking so poker-faced knowing your decisions are going to do so much damage to my generation and everyone in the future? You keep saying phrases like ‘offsetting emissions’ knowing full well the impact it will have. I want to believe your empty promises, so very much, but I have no trust in your words. You throw words around like confetti, but I don’t think you know that these words you throw around mean so much, that they matter. I expect better from you because it means so much to young people like me – you are playing with my future. Burrup Hub is risking everything – our country, our futures, our hopes of having a safe climate

Greenpeace and community paddle out in Fremantle, Western Australia for #WhalesnotWoodside. credit line: © Michael Lutman / Greenpeace

What will you do when you leave school? I thought about environmental law or environmental science for a while there but I am not sure I want to work in environmental law. I am in Year 11 now so it’s something I’m actively thinking about. I know I want to keep organising when I leave school. Where I find joy is organising and fighting for a better future.

Was your mum a big influence in your life? In some ways yeah. In the early and late 90s she lived in Northcliffe – a tiny town kind of on the way to Albany. She used to go there and do sit-ins in trees. It was the start of the decades-long fight to save Western Australia’s old growth forests. She wasn’t in that movement for the longest time or necessarily the most active member, but I recall her telling me about a forest called Boorara. She lived in a house on her friend Wally’s property, he is a farmer, and the state government had decided to log trees on his property. In her room there is a photo of one of the huge trees in Boorara.

What advice do you have for other young people like yourself who may want to get involved in the climate movement but aren’t sure where to start? Just start! Getting involved with the climate movement is one of the best things I’ve ever done! Something that I was told growing up was you can’t complain about something if you are being passive, not doing anything to fix it, and I think you can apply this to the climate crisis! If you are frustrated by government inaction or scared for the future, transfer that into action! There are loads of great climate orgs in Australia to get involved with, and they all have the most lovely people who will support you in getting involved.

Some that I recommend,

School Strike for Climate (SS4C)
Greenpeace
The Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC)
Tomorrow Movement

They all do different amazing things. There’s also so many local organisations who you can get involved with – your local environment centre, a local environmental campaign! I went into organising with no support or knowledge other than what my mum had shared with me about how she used to blockade forests, it was a good experience to learn through doing things. Nannas for Native Forests are amazing – nannas going to sit on equipment and lock on! They are a community group that has helped me so much!

If the nannas can do it – so can you!

Greenpeace and the end of whaling in Albany

Sophia Fowler — Wed, 03 May 2023 14:00:00 +0000

The end of whaling in Albany marked a turning point in the fight to protect whales from extinction. In the 1970s, the greatest threat to whales was whaling. Now the greatest threat comes from fossil fuel companies like Woodside who are driving dangerous climate change.

1977 protests outside the last whaling station in Australia in Albany, Western Australia. Photo from the book, The Last Whale. Credit: Jonny Lewis Collection|The Rainbow Warrior’s first day in Australia for the #WhalesNotWoodside Ship Tour.

1977 protests outside the last whaling station in Australia in Albany, Western Australia. Photo from the book, The Last Whale. Credit: Jonny Lewis Collection

Late one dark night, in Albany, on the southern coast of Western Australia, Greenpeace activists launched two Zodiacs from Middleton Beach. They stealthy followed the three whaling vessels as they came out of Albany harbour and blocked the entrance preventing them from leaving.

The protest lasted for several days, and although no arrests were made, the incident brought national attention to Greenpeace’s cause. This was Greenpeace’s first significant action in Australia, back in 1977.

“This wasn’t a slick operation, but it was successful because of the combination and character of the people involved … the conditions were terrible and the zodiacs going out to sea was on one hand mad but also courageous”

– Charney Barber, 1977 anti-whaling activist

Greenpeace has a deep connection to Albany, and Western Australia. For over 150 years, this small port town was known as the ’whaling capital of the world’. Whaling was a lucrative but notoriously brutal industry that was by the mid 1970s facing sustained protests..

In 1977, a small band of Greenpeace activists arrived in Albany, accompanied by several zodiac inflatable boats. As Chris Pash – a reporter at the Albany Advertiser 1975-78 who extensively covered the campaign – said at a recent Greenpeace press conference:

“Many then thought the aim of the activists was to beat the whalers at sea. This wasn’t it. That’s not what they were here for. This thought was too literal. Stop the [whale] chasers? No way.”

Instead, the activists wanted to document the horrors of whaling, and get those photos to the world’s media so the whole world could see just how cruel whaling was.

“What they [Greenpeace] did have was Bob Hunter. The Canadian journalist and writer wanted what he called a media mindbomb….the strategy was to lob information, the images of dying whales, into the minds of media consumers, preferably those watching television. Essentially changing public opinion.”

This strategy, combined with the efforts of our allies, eventually paid off.

In late 1978, the whaling station – the last in the English speaking world – closed. That same year, the Australian government passed the Whale Protection Act, which effectively ended commercial whaling in Australian waters.

The end of whaling in Albany marked a turning point in the fight to protect whales from extinction. Greenpeace continues to use its direct action tactics to draw attention to the urgent need to protect the planet’s wildlife and ecosystems.

In the 1970s, the greatest threat to whales was whaling. Now the greatest threat comes from fossil fuel companies like Woodside who are driving dangerous climate change.

Right now our ship, the Rainbow Warrior, is in Western Australia to join with coastal communities to stop fossil fuel giant Woodside Energy from drilling for gas in our precious oceans.

The Rainbow Warrior’s first day in Australia for the #WhalesNotWoodside Ship Tour. Credit: Harriet Spark / Grumpy Turtle Film / Greenpeace

Woodside wants to drill 70 gas wells in some of the world’s most biodiverse waters. If an accident were to take place, it could impact up to 12 marine parks including Ningaloo Reef.

“When I look at Albany today, where whale watching is the primary tourist attraction, where a wind farm is generating the electricity of the town, it swells me with pride. This is not the time to give up or give in. Our oceans are under attack. The ocean peoples must be protected.”

– Charney Barber, 1977 anti-whaling activist

Greenpeace is committed to challenging Woodside at every step of the way – and we need you with us. Take a stand by telling your MP you want clean energy, not Woodside’s dirty gas.

[button href=”https://greenpeace.org.au/act/clean-energy-transition” style=”emboss” size=”large” color=”#81d742″ hovercolor=”#7adb20″ textcolor=”#ffffff”]Email Your MP[/button]

Eight steps to turn climate-anxiety into a superpower for positive change for our planet

Greenpeace Australia Pacific — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 13:00:00 +0000

Yep! Climate anxiety is a real thing! And yep! There are many Australians feeling this way.

Flash, Captain America, Deadpool and Spiderman also want to be rainbow warriors. Rainbow Warrior is in Rio de Janeiro to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Greenpeace Brazil and to support the Defend the Amazon Reef campaign.
Flash, Capitão América, Deadpool e Homem-Aranha também querem ser guerreiros do arco-íris. Rainbow Warrior visita o Rio de Janeiro para celebrar os 25 anos do Greenpeace Brasil e divulgar a campanha Defenda os Corais da Amazônia.||The crowd play with a globe at the Sydney Climate march.
Millions of people around the world are striking from school or work to demand urgent measures to stop the climate crisis.||Iconic Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior has stopped in Circular Quay for the first leg of its Making Oil History tour to draw attention to the threat posed by oil drilling to the Great Australian Bight.

The Warrior will be stationed in Sydney for one day only to run tours for the public before departing for a voyage along the East Coast to Melbourne, South Australia, and WA where it will launch a number of reports and conduct scientific research documenting the unsung beauty of the Bight.

Does news about the climate crisis seem to take a particularly heavy toll on your mental health? Then hi, welcome! You’re not alone. In fact, you actually join a not-so-exclusive club of almost half of all Australians.

According to a recent national poll conducted by the Climate Council, more than half (51%) of Aussies are “very worried” or “fairly worried” about climate change and extreme weather events in Australia.

It probably means that you or your loved ones have been directly impacted by climate change-fuelled disaster(s) in the past, or, like most other climate activists or climate-alarmed folk, you’re an empath who feels things deeply. IYKYK.

So if you’re reading this (firstly) kudos to you, fellow empath, for being exactly who you are! We think you are amazing. Have you tried harnessing that superpower into positive change for our planet yet? If not, here are eight steps to get you started:

Step One: Empower yourself

Let go of what you cannot control and take charge of what you can. Take a break and find activities that ground you again.

Segregating waste, utilising more public transport, reducing the use of single-use plastics in your life, installing a solar power grid at home, carrying out rainwater harvesting, and growing your own garden or just one indoor plant (bonus points if you can harvest some tasty fruits, herbs, or veggies!) are all ways to play your part – and bring you back to nature at the same time. Win-win!

Step Two: Get (and stay) inspired
Even superheroes need to refuel from time to time. So don’t forget to tailor your feed to include funny animal videos (trust us), and positive news stories and content. Some other great follows over on the ‘Gram include @jessharwoodart @sarah_lazarovic @futureearth and @gogreensavegreen

As far as podcasts go, “turn your climate anxiety into climate action”- the tagline of Greenpeace podcast Heaps Better says it all. Listen to learn more about how we can all become better planet savers!

And if inspirational, life-changing stories (with a happy ending) are what you need, head over to A Slight Change of Plans, a podcast by Dr. Maya Shankar. Dr. Shankar’s guests talk about the crossroads they faced in life and how they overcame them to come out better and brighter at the end of the tunnel.

Step Three: Connect IRL with other superheroes

Climate March in 2019 on Gadigal land, Sydney

Not all superheroes wear capes. And you’re likely to find a fellow hero for climate action right next to you at your next local climate rally, you can join your nearest Greenpeace Volunteer Hub, or even head to a local book club that is an ideal space to read and discuss new ideas with like-minded friends.

Whether it be rallying, reading cli-fi or self-help books, connecting and discussing your thoughts with others is a great way to declutter your thoughts and ease your mind.

Step Four: Talk it out with loved ones
Climate anxiety is real, and sometimes it can become a very heavy weight to bear – even for the strongest of superheroes. Never be afraid to reach out to trusted loved ones (or medical professional) when you need some extra support.

Step Five: Help empower your elected representatives
Pick up the phone (or jump into your emails if you’d prefer) and give your elected representatives or candidates a (superhero) earful about the changes you want to see.

Step Six: Just be in nature from time to time

Go for a walk, head to the beach (or even your local pool!) or take a hike over the weekend, spend your next free afternoon in an observatory park or local conservation centre – or even just drink your morning tea or coffee outside next time!

Disconnecting from your screen is one of the quickest ways for any nature-loved like yourself to unwind from the busy world we all live in.

Step Seven: Listen and learn from the Traditional Custodians of the land
As Waanyi nation member and award-winning author, Alexis Wright once said, “We say we have been here since time immemorial, and we understand that our resilience is intrinsically linked with the stories that tell of the ongoing, regenerative cycles of the world in which we live.”

Taking positive action to help heal our planet, cannot be done without being an ally (year-round) to the Traditional Custodians of the land.

Whether that means spending time to learn about and take care of the Country you are living on, or using your voice (and privilege) to fight for change, take the time to listen and learn from First Nations people.

Step Eight: Join our community

Volunteers onboard the iconic Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior during the first leg of its Making Oil History tour to draw attention to the threat posed by oil drilling to the Great Australian Bight in 2018.

We believe in the power (or should we say superpower) of many. And the strength of our work depends on the thousands of people who put their beliefs into action.

So why not get involved and join our crew to help give our planet the voice it deserves. Our team of volunteers help make the impossible, possible!

Tools for Grassroots Activism

Bella Todd — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 13:00:00 +0000

Everything you need to run a powerful movement for next to nothing!
Running a grassroots campaign or starting a movement online can be intimidating, but there are so many great tools available to help you get started. Here are our top picks from the world of online grassroots activism. Not only are these platforms all entirely FREE, they’re easy to use and they’re all for promoting responsible grassroots activism!

The crowd play with a globe at the Sydney Climate march.
Millions of people around the world are striking from school or work to demand urgent measures to stop the climate crisis.|The crowd play with a globe at the Sydney Climate march.
Millions of people around the world are striking from school or work to demand urgent measures to stop the climate crisis.|The crowd play with a globe at the Sydney Climate march.
Millions of people around the world are striking from school or work to demand urgent measures to stop the climate crisis.|The crowd play with a globe at the Sydney Climate march.
Millions of people around the world are striking from school or work to demand urgent measures to stop the climate crisis.

As the world starts to go back to offline, the world of online organising is here to stay! Running a grassroots campaign or starting a movement online can be intimidating, but there are so many great tools available to help you get started. Here are our top picks from the world of online grassroots activism. Not only are these platforms all entirely FREE, they’re easy to use and they’re all for promoting responsible grassroots activism!

Fundraising

Chuffed

Chuffed is an incredible online crowdfunding site – with a twist! Unlike some other crowdfunding sites, Chuffed is aimed specifically at supporting change-makers, providing a platform for nonprofits, charities, social enterprises, community groups and individuals to make a positive difference in the world! Chuffed allows you to fundraise through crowdfunding, but also has a new peer-to-peer fundraising feature that allows other people to join your fundraising team and fundraise with you!

Chuffed is also a Social Benefit Company, which means that they operate for the benefit of the community, taking social, environmental and community impacts into all of their decision making!

Features: crowdfunding, peer-to-peer fundraising, offer perks to your donors, customise different ‘impact levels’ for different donation sizes, branded email receipts, email journeys for donors.

Communications

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is an online marketing platform BUT it has a free version that’s pretty great for sending out emails to your members and supporters. It has some great tools that let you make some very schmick looking emails so you can keep your members updated on all the latest events, meetings, campaigns and related news in style!

Features: email up to 2,000 contacts, send out up to 10,000 emails per month, access to loads of pretty dope email templates, create automated welcome emails.

Petitions

Change.org may be the most popular place online to create petitions, however there has been recent controversy over their status as a for-profit company and how those profits are used. Thankfully, there are some great alternatives out there!

SumofUs Community Petitions

SumofUs is a non-profit organisation that is committed to holding corporations accountable on issues ranging from worker’s rights, to climate change, human rights to animal rights, and more!

BUT they also have an online community portal where you can create your own petition to tackle issues you care about and hold corporations, businesses, governments and decision makers to account! The platform is super easy to use and allows you to download the list of signatures so you can deliver the petition!

Features: create your own petitions, download signatures, share your petition with the world!

Online Events

Zoom

You may have already heard of this one. In fact, it’s probably impossible that you haven’t if you’ve lived through the joys of working and volunteering online in 2020! As much as you may have come to loathe zoom calls, it’s an incredible tool for online organising. Zoom is super useful for online meetings and events. While the free version does have a 40 minute call limit, you can always get around that by scheduling multiple meetings one after the other.

Features: break out rooms for smaller discussions, screen sharing (for presentations and movie nights!), whiteboard tool, record meetings, and of course, the ever hilarious zoom backgrounds feature.

All-in-One Platforms

These sites are the all-rounders of the world of online-activism, the swiss-army knives if you will – they have all the tools, tools you never even knew you needed, but don’t know how you could ever have lived without!

Action Network

Action Network is a non-profit, free to use platform that provides all the tools you could ever want or need to organise online! Action Network is all about supporting progressive causes and responsible activism and that’s why we’re obsessed.

There are too many awesome features on this platform to mention them all so here are just a few of our personal favourites.

Features: create events (both online and offline!), create petitions, send emails and texts to your supporters, create automated campaign journeys, letter writing campaigns, call campaigns, create fundraisers, keep track of your members.

Stay Connected

Slack

While Facebook groups are often the go-to place for online community engagement and organising, there are better alternatives that offer a range of features to better engage and connect with your community. This is especially true of those wishing to get themselves off Facebook. Slack is a particularly strong contender. With a free version available to anyone, and both a desktop and mobile app version, it’s the perfect platform for organising and staying connected in the digital age!

Features: connect it up with your calendar app, as well as zoom or google applications, control over notifications so you can tune out in your down time, direct messaging, ‘channels’ for communications with big groups of people so everyone can stay in the loop!

Now you have all the tools in your activist utility belt to tackle all the issues! Go forth and activate your community!

Why we HAVE to make the stimulus sustainable

Greenpeace Australia Pacific — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 13:00:00 +0000

A conversation starter
This Covid-19 stimulus must be delivered in such a way as to keep as many people as possible healthy, safe, and certain of their future – that means safeguarding our planet as well.

|Wizard Power is the company commercialising the “Big Dish” solar thermal technology that has been developed at the Australian National University. The prototype has been generating reliable power since 1994 and construction of a new dish is on the way. In the image, a welder wearing protective clothing and mask, welds part of the structure as bright sparks fly.|A worker stands looking out over the Dali Zhemoshan Wind Farm, which is Yunnan’s first wind power plant, as well as China’s highest, at an altitude of 2,800-3,006 meters (9,186-9,862 ft). It started power generation in December 2008.

As the world and Australia grapple with Covid-19 and lurch toward more economic uncertainty it is apparent that an unprecedented economic stimulus should be introduced swiftly and at scale. It must be sufficient to match the unprecedented health emergency that has arrived at a time when we are already reeling from an unprecedented climate crisis.

Like most countries around the world, Australia’s state and federal governments are rolling out ongoing stimulus projects – essentially injecting taxpayer money into the economy to keep businesses afloat and people employed. This stimulus must be delivered in such a way as to keep as many people as possible healthy, safe, and certain of their future – that means safeguarding our planet as well.

Like the climate crisis embodied in this black summer of fires, floods and drought, Covid-19 is proving that we rely far more on community cooperation and public services than we do corporations. We are a wealthy country, blessed with a rich and unique yet fragile and damaged land that we must restore and protect against future climate damage.

Following the 2008 global financial crisis, stimulus interventions globally were skewed disproportionately not only to the rich, but to carbon-intensive industries. That’s a mistake we can’t afford to repeat. Acknowledging that climate change represents a social and economic risk, this stimulus must be designed to look after people first and foremost, dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions to slow global temperature rise, and prepare us for a climate changed world.

We should approach this as an opportunity to invest in public and planetary health, using the low interest rates resulting from this current financial situation to springboard massive investment in low-carbon infrastructure, research, and training especially in regions that will be most affected by the inevitable global transition to clean energy.

This stimulus can help create the jobs of the future while making this land more resilient to climate impacts, and help Australia capitalise on the clean energy transition.

Public money must also be used to create sustainable jobs now (including jobs for a diverse range of skills), especially in areas on the frontline of climate change – recovering from bushfires, drought, floods and other extreme weather.

Here’s what it could look like:

Make people’s lives better – starting with the most vulnerable

Our first obligation must be to keep people healthy, safe, and sheltered right now. But this is also an opportunity to equalise our economy and society, rejuvenate our cities, and lift people out of poverty, including energy poverty.

Here’s a start on how:

Put money in the pockets of people before corporations
Ensure everyone has a roof over their heads – considering the homeless and other vulnerable people first
Ensure everyone has access to free or affordable health and wellbeing support, especially the isolated, elderly, and differently able
Provide zero-emissions heating and cooling to social housing, public schools, tafes, hospitals, and jails as well as homes in climate-affected and remote communities
Fast-track public and active transport infrastructure spending, like Sydney’s Metro West project and the Suburban Rail Loop in Melbourne, as well as cycleways and walking paths, including in regional cities
Fund urban renewal, making cities greener, more accessible, and more pedestrian-friendly

Invest in the future by starting Australia on the path to becoming a clean energy superpower

The global transition to clean energy is unstoppable but how that transition occurs, and who benefits most, is still up for grabs. Australia has the potential to be a world leader in clean energy. Not only can we power the country, but we can also produce enough to export renewable energy, knowledge, and components to our region. By favouring and incentivising locally manufactured components and services as we build capacity we can generate a jobs boom that will carry us out of the crisis in better shape than we entered it.

It could look like this:

Extend and massively re-fund the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC)
Establish a clean manufacturing industry fund to encourage reduction of emissions from the manufacturing sector
Major funding to fast track renewable energy zones around the country including training hubs and infrastructure and rapidly upgrade Australia’s grid infrastructure to ensure it can fully meet the needs of a modern, distributed renewable electricity sector
Fund a clean energy solutions centre to help businesses lower their emissions and power bills by investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy
Establish a renewable energy export industry through developing renewable hydrogen, batteries and regionally interconnected renewable energy farms across northern Australia with the consent and collaboration of Traditional Owners
Reinstate and increase funding to the CSIRO energy business unit

Accelerate the electrification of the public transportation system, powered by additional renewable capacity, starting with diesel buses
Electrify government fleets and build a national network of electric vehicle charging stations
Instead of handing over money to share-holder owned airlines, let’s finally fund locally built high-speed rail

Restore, recover and build resilience

This is a beautiful and harsh land, one of the driest and hottest, with unparalleled unique biodiversity and the oldest living culture on the planet. Climate change and colonisation have damaged Australia’s landscapes over centuries – fires, floods, and sea-level rise have put many of us, especially Aboriginal, and Torres-Strait Islander people on the frontline of climate damage. Restoring damaged ecosystems will not only help bring threatened species from the brink of extinction, it will trap and absorb carbon as well as make our land more productive, and more resilient to climate change.

Here are some ways we could do it:

Support Indigenous and community-led initiatives underway and emerging that are focused on reforesting and replanting in bushfire affected habitats
Repair coastal ecosystems by replanting and restoring Australia’s mangrove forests, seagrasses, and salt marshes
Fast-track spending on infrastructure and community buildings in fire, drought, storm, and flood affected areas
Funding for infrastructure in remote communities, for example heat resistant buildings and buttressing coastal communities in the north feeling the impacts from sea-level rise
Reward famers who conserve and restore native habitat and provide grants to assist farmers who adopt regenerative practices and sequester carbon.

This is not the end.

This is a starting point. Unfortunately this current health crisis, like the climate crisis, may be with us for a while.

What’s clear is that while we respond as a community to the Covid-19 pandemic, we must be careful not to wash our hands of the ongoing crises and injustices that already threaten people’s lives, health, wellbeing and livelihoods, including the climate and biodiversity crises.

Just like Covid-19, climate change is an inequity multiplier that disproportionately affects those who are already vulnerable and marginalised. That means it’s critical that public funds flow towards strengthening the social AND ecological systems that we depend on.

That’s going to take community collaboration – we’re up for it.

What’s next?

Send us your ideas! We don’t have all the answers, we’d love you to give them to us. How do you think we can build community, save the planet, and flatten the curve all at once?

11 ways to stay connected and fight the coronavirus

Greenpeace Australia Pacific — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 13:00:00 +0000

The new coronavirus, COVID-19, has many of us glued to the news, concerned for loved ones, and adapting our lives to deal with the changes the pandemic is having on our homes, schools, and work-places. It’s pretty tough.

Young people demonstrate against climate change to ask the political and business class to take urgent action. The demonstration is part of the movement known as Fridays for Future, inspired by the Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg.

A lot of systemic inequality has been exposed as the realities of the pandemic response set in. It’s easier for some people to deal with the crisis than others.

For example, not everyone has paid sick leave and many ‘gig economy’ workers don’t have the option to work from home. Consider that if schools and child care spaces close for extended periods, the burden on working parents (especially low-income, single-parent or single-earner households) without flexible work conditions will be extra heavy. People without adequate homes are particularly vulnerable, as are those who have pre-existing health conditions.

Fear of a recession, along with the impact of the OPEC dispute that has oil prices tumbling, have also sparked calls on governments not to fund a bail out of the fossil fuel industry.

Greenpeace, along with many others are calling for any spending to help build a better society, based on better health care, employment standards, social protections and fund clean energy — in short, a society where we truly take care of one another and the only planet Earth we’ve got. And an economy and society transformed to make us more resilient, driving changes in the ways we live, work and get around that promote positive environmental and health outcomes.

We need systemic solutions to these kinds of protection gaps and problems. In the meantime, we can keep our community connections strong and model the behaviour we want our leaders to adopt and show them that love and compassion are stronger than fear.

Here are eleven ways people are talking about caring for one another while staying safe as our family, friends, colleagues and neighbours navigate COVID-19.

#1) Look after yourself, to look after us all – flatten the curve!

Use simple social distancing tactics like replacing hugs and handshakes with alternatives …

Handshake and hug alternatives in the Coronavirus world

If we all do our best to stop the spread, we can flatten the curve! (IMAGES via The Spinoff)

Simple hygiene and social distancing can save lives and flatten the Coronavirus pandemic curve

#2) Check in on elderly neighbours

Although necessary, social isolation can be lonely.

Text, phone call, email or, if needed, in person, especially if they live alone.

#3) Reach out to people in self isolation

Send them funny memes or GIFs to cheer them up. Call them. Video chat them. Don’t forget about them. Make sure they feel less alone and have social support. Offer them help. Some communities have started to use these cards to help neighbours who are in self-isolation.

Right click and save to print and use

#4) Volunteer your time.

Know someone in self isolation or who needs to limit their public interactions? Offer to pick up and deliver their shopping, treats or other things they might need, while taking precautions to keep yourself safe. Your time and labour could be a big help to someone needing support.

#5) Counter racist fears and xenophobia

Diseases can make anyone sick regardless of their origin or ethnicity. Yet because the virus originated in China, people of Chinese descent have faced a wave of racism. Help stop the fear and abuse by educating people and correcting racist comments or behaviour when you hear or see them.

#6) Combat misinformation online

Unfortunately, if not unexpected, misinformation on COVID-19 is floating around online. If you see it, report it to your platform and let anyone posting/sharing it know (e.g., via private message or commenting on the post). Get your information from trusted sources like the World Health Organization, Australian Department of Health, or your doctor/hospital.

#7) A radical idea: rent payment relief for self-isolated people without paid sick leave?

If you’re a landlord and have the extra income, you could consider (as some landlords reportedly have) freezing rent payments and ensuring no evictions occur for any tenants struggling financially due to the pandemic. What do you think?

#7) Fundraise for people financially impacted by quarantine measures

Fundraising platforms like Pozible can help you organise, but word of mouth, email and text are also tried and true ways to do some grassroots fundraising in support of someone affected by things like missing work, paying for childcare because of school closures, or extra medical costs.

#9) Make social distancing fun with video chat

Social distancing doesn’t mean we can’t feel close to our loved ones. Get creative. Have a video chat to get together and celebrate birthdays or other occasions using everyday tools like Skype, Hangouts or Zoom. Or, synchronise watching your favourite TV show or movie together while chatting via text or video.

#10) Share positive news and acts of kindness with your community

There are so many examples out there of people helping one another. Share those. Talk about those. Together we can prevent getting caught in a bad news hopelessness spiral. Spread the word about how you’re making a difference.

#11) And for cripe’s sake stop buying up all the toilet paper!

Prepare for what your household will need if quarantined, but curb the panic-greed reflex. If we want a better world, we have to learn to keep our community’s needs top of mind and share the simple things (seriously, toilet paper?! Soap is shareable and, erm, Indispensable in a time like this!).

And remember, wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands. It protects you and everyone around you. It only takes 20 seconds.

The Last Australian Open?

Greenpeace Australia Pacific — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 13:00:00 +0000

‘Climate inaction is an unforced error’ Australia cannot sit on the sidelines any longer. We must take action to reduce our emissions in this coal-fuelled crisis.

Greenpeace volunteers bring message to the Australian Open calling upon Scott Morrison to take climate action to protect the sports we love

Nothing makes it feel like summer in Australian quite like beaches, barbecues and sport. But with more extreme heatwaves, a longer bushfire season, and bushfire smoke choking our cities, the Australian summer of sport is under threat.

This long weekend Australia and the sport-loving world turned its gaze to Melbourne to watch what experts fear could be the Last Australian Open.

Greenpeace and supporters were courtside too, during the men’s doubles third-round match that pitted Simone Bolleli and Benoit Paire against Henri Kontinen and Jan-Lennard Struff.

As the action unfolded on court, we unfolded our banner in the stands calling for real climate action from Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

“Climate inaction is an unforced error,” the banner read. We held up dozens of pictures of Morrison fumbling with a tennis racket and ball.

The Greenpeace action was covered by the News Corp papers. (Screenshot)

We did this because experts warn 2020 could be our last Australian Open. Greenpeace is calling on Morrison to protect iconic Australian institutions like the Open by urgently reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which have been rising for the past four years.

It’s Morrison’s fumbling off-court that’s seen Australia fail to reduce its carbon pollution. This failure is an unforced error that has exacerbated the bushfire crisis and disrupted play at the Open.

Two out of the last three years of the Aus Open have seen players and fans suffer huge health effects from climate change-driven heatwaves and bushfire smoke.

Without swift action to phase out coal – the number one driver of climate change – extreme weather events will continue to get worse.

Leading scientists and former tennis players have questioned whether the Australian Open can continue in its current format with play increasingly disrupted by extreme heat and bushfire smoke. Some scientists warn we should expect hotter summers and more intense bushfires, which is bad news for our Australian tournament already under pressure.

The CSIRO’s David Karoly is among a chorus of climate scientists calling for the tournament to move from the middle of summer to protect players and fans. The warning signs have been around for a while but they’re becoming more acute. Climate impacts have already struck this year.

In heartbreaking scenes, bushfire smoke forced Slovenian tennis player Dalila Jakupovic to collapse to the ground in a coughing fit. In top physical form, the 28-year-old had no previous respiratory problems but was forced to retire from the match because she couldn’t breathe. She later said it was “not fair” she and fellow athletes were forced to compete in unsafe conditions.

On the same day across the city, a match involving former world number one Maria Sharapova was aborted when the umpire noticed players struggling to breathe in stifling conditions. Other players like Bernard Tomic, who has never had breathing problems, were forced to use inhalers.

And these impacts don’t stop at the sidelines. Fans have also choked on bushfire smoke. Soon the sight of dust masks at the Australian Open will be as common as hats and sunscreen.

Greenpeace volunteers bring message to the Australian Open calling upon Scott Morrison to take climate action to protect the sports we love.

And if the smoke doesn’t get you, the heat will.

Extreme heat has plagued the Open since 2014, when Canada’s Frank Dancevic fainted, calling Open conditions “inhumane” as temperatures exceeded 40°C for several days in a row.

Belarusian Victoria Azarenka said play at Rod Laver Arena was like “dancing on a frying pan”. Water bottles melted on court, players and ball kids collapsed and vomited due to heat stress, and more than 1,000 spectators were treated for heat exhaustion.

At the 2018 Open, it was a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire, when the on-court temperature reached a scorching 69 degrees. France’s Alize Cornet collapsed during play.

Events that year rightly put the Australian Open heat policy in the spotlight, prompting the creation of a new heat scale for 2019 that saw play suspended on day 11.

The Age covered the action in the stands on the day. (screenshot)

It’s terrifying to think the fires causing the smoke and these heat-stress events are happening under 1.5 degrees of warming. What will the impacts be when warming surpasses 3 degrees, which the science says is on track to occur by 2100. We only need to look at how players, fans and matches have been affected over the last 10 years to see the trend heading in a dangerous direction.

We have known for years that burning coal is the main driver of climate change. We know this because experts told us so, but vested interests have drowned their voices out, while wilfully ignorant politicians tell outright lies that spread like wildfire, with just as harmful results.

If we don’t want 2020 to be the last Australian Open, we need to listen to the experts.

More than six months ago 23 former fire chiefs tried to warn Morrison to prepare for a potentially catastrophic fire season. Morrison failed to listen. Even today too many members of his government live in denial about this coal-fired climate crisis.

Greenpeace volunteers bring message to the Australian Open calling upon Scott Morrison to take climate action to protect the sports we love.

Australians cannot be spectators any more. We don’t have the luxury. This bushfire season is the tragic wake up call many of us feared would come. When the crisis passes, we will hold climate blockers and deniers to account and make sure they understand this climate change is a very real threat to our Australian way of life.

Any politician that loves this country and the traditions that make us who we are must take the necessary action to address this climate crisis. Otherwise, we can kiss goodbye our treasured summer of sport.

“This movement is gathering momentum every day”: Naia, Wollongong

Greenpeace Australia Pacific — Thu, 08 Aug 2019 14:00:00 +0000

|Photo credit: Destination Wollongong

My name is Naia and I am a student from Wollongong. I’m asking for support for our local campaign for our council, Wollongong, to declare a climate emergency and move all council operations to 100% renewable.

For a long time, I felt helpless to the changes I saw around me; coral bleaching, species going extinct, peoples’ homes being destroyed by ever-intensifying extreme weather. I struggled to see how I could fulfill my life dreams of travelling and having a job, home and family of my own in a world due to expire within my lifetime.

But I was empowered to act on climate change when I realised the power ordinary people hold to make change. From there, Emma Watson’s paraphrased Hillel quote sums up my mentality best; “If not me, who? If not now, when?”

Councils do a lot of things here, like garbage collection and keeping the street lights on, and they employ heaps of people. And wouldn’t it be amazing if all of these things were powered by 100% renewable energy?

This movement is gathering momentum every day, and it’s inspiring to watch. You only have to turn on the news to know that a tide of local governments are lining up to do what their federal governments refuse to do – to look a problem in the face and start taking meaningful action to fix it.

From Paris to Sydney, Auckland to Noosa, more than 160 million people are now represented by a local government that has stepped up and called the climate emergency for what it is, and many of them are also taking concrete steps to shift to 100% renewable energy. Just yesterday Launceston became the latest council to declare. I want Wollongong to be next!

Locals from Helensburgh to Dapto have signed our petition, and I’m working with others to build a local group so we can fight the climate crisis today, to ensure a brighter future tomorrow.

It’s up to us to seize this moment to make meaningful change, to demand our elected representatives tell the truth about the climate emergency and begin immediately moving away from coal.

We simply don’t have time to wait for them. And we are not. We will overcome the political and corporate system that enables and protects the fossil fuel industry, and transform it – with or without them.

Together, we – the Australian people – are sounding the alarm from the ground up. Already the climate revolution has begun in our communities. Street by street, neighbourhood by neighbourhood, city by city.

Let’s keep the wave of action going!

Writen by Naia, a member of the Break Free group in Wollongong

BP oil rig U-turns after failing to shake off Greenpeace ship

Greenpeace Australia Pacific — Sun, 16 Jun 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Scotland, UK – A Greenpeace ship has overtaken a BP rig near the drill site of a major new oil well in the North Sea.Early this afternoon a Greenpeace ship, the Arctic Sunrise, got ahead of the 27,000-tonne BP rig 83 miles off the Scottish coast.

Soon afterwards the oil rig, approximately 20 miles short of the drill site, made a U-turn and is now heading back on the same track that it came from when it left Cromarty in Scotland.

The turnaround followed a morning of cat and mouse with Greenpeace.

In the early hours activists attempted to re-board the BP rig for fourth time, but the BP vessel towing the rig sped away from them.

Greenpeace International activists did not give up, and pursued BP, overtaking the rig around 1pm. The oil rig is currently still moving back on its original track.

The standoff between climate activists and BP is now in its eighth day as activists continue to stop BP’s plans to drill a new well in the Vorlich oil field, which would give BP access to 30 million barrels of crude.

It comes after Pope Francis warned oil bosses gathered in Rome on Friday June 14 that when ‘faced with a climate emergency, we must take action accordingly, in order to avoid perpetrating a brutal act of injustice towards the poor and future generations.’

Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven said:

“BP’s oil rig has done a U-turn and we urge chief executive Bob Dudley to do the same. BP must stop drilling for new oil and switch to renewables.

“Pope Francis is absolutely right about the climate emergency. We must take action to save future generations from a ‘brutal injustice’. And we are.

“BP told the Pope on Friday that they want to find the answer to the climate problem. Wherever that answer may lie it’s certainly not in drilling new wells to access 30 million barrels of oil at the bottom of the North Sea.

“This is why BP will face opposition wherever they plan to drill for more oil, from the North Sea to the Arctic and from the mouth of the Amazon to the Gulf of Mexico. We have tried letters, meetings, petitions – none of that worked. Now we’re going to stand in BP’s way to prevent further harm to people at the sharp end of the climate crisis.

“In the long run, this is a confrontation BP can’t win. They are in it for their profits, we’re in it for our planet’s future. BP must start ditching the climate-wrecking side of its business and switch to renewables.”

Eleven Greenpeace UK activists have been arrested so far in the course of the week-long occupation and five were still in custody as of 3pm today [SUN 16]. Three freelance photographers have also been arrested but subsequently released.

Despite BP claiming that its business is compatible with the Paris climate agreement, Greenpeace argues BP’s operations are in direct opposition to efforts to prevent catastrophic climate change. Evidence for this includes:

-Despite scientists warning that existing oil and gas reserves already exceed what we can safely burn, BP is seeking to expand its operations in the Gulf of Mexico while welcoming President Trump’s move to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drillers;

-BP is outspending other oil majors on efforts to lobby against climate action. An investigation by Unearthed revealed BP successfully lobbied the Trump administration to weaken regulations that would have prevented the release of millions of tonnes of the potent greenhouse gas methane;

-BP capital expenditure remains heavily skewed towards fossil fuels. In 2018 it spent around $16 billion adding to oil and gas reserves, with $500 million – just over 3% – being spent on alternatives to fossil fuels. As Bob Dudley admitted to the Washington Post: “If someone said, ‘Here’s $10bn to invest in renewables,’ we wouldn’t know how to do it”.

ENDS

Photo and video regularly updated here:

https://media.greenpeace.org/collection/27MZIFJ82ALXR

Contact:

Greenpeace UK Press Office: press.uk@greenpeace.org, +44 7506 512442, +4420 7865 8255