Greenpeace UK

We need fewer boats and more fish to save our oceans

jamie — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:34:02 +0000

Numbers of bluefin tuna are rapidly dwindling

Image caption: Numbers of bluefin tuna are rapidly dwindling

I’m here in Bangkok at a gathering of hundreds of tuna business officials, policy-makers and even a few environmental advocates like myself. It’s been a long week of discussion about the future of the industry, including a lot about what we all call sustainability fish for the future.

Some of the key take away points of this conference are that:

every part of the tuna industry has a role to play in ensuring that there will be a viable tuna industry in the years to come;
tuna stocks are in decline. The tuna catches have been shrinking for several years even though there are more boats with ever more efficient fishing gear;
prices are very high. With the declining availability of tuna and increasing demand, the prices are going higher and higher, a key challenge for consumers and processors alike.

So what should the future of the tuna industry look like? Simply: fewer boats, more fish. This was our message to the conference – we need fewer industrial-sized fishing boats chasing dwindling tuna populations. If we want fish for the future, we need to change the way we manage our oceans today.

The tuna industry has to come up with a roadmap that will reduce fishing capacity. There are just too many boats and not enough fish. Large mechanised super boats are scooping up millions of tons of tuna every year.

The maximum amount of tuna that the oceans can provide without compromising its ability to replenish itself is being reached in tuna populations all over the world. The most destructive fishing methods are catching too many juvenile tuna, before they’ve had a chance to reproduce and reverse the impacts of overfishing.

My Greenpeace colleagues around the world are working to advance solutions to the oceans crisis. Too often, initiatives such as the creation of sustainable fishing industries are shouldered by the coastal states whose people depend on the oceans for food and jobs, such as the Pacific Island nations and the Maldives. The collapse of tuna populations would hit these states the hardest.

I have been having discussions with some of the conference attendees over the past few days. Some seem indifferent to our presence, but I have been pleasantly surprised that some have said privately that they are glad that Greenpeace is here. We have a lot in common with these industry officials: we all want ample fish and living oceans in the future. We sometimes disagree about how to make that vision a reality.

We are glad that we came too. Time will tell if the industry will take our message - fewer boats, more fish - seriously. Around the world, we are starting to see the beginning of a shift in the industry. Tuna brands, retailers and consumers alike are increasingly sourcing responsibly caught tuna and the market for sustainable tuna products is growing.

We will continue to campaign for an end to overfishing and end the destruction that is keeping the industry fishing itself out of existence. The industry can expect us to continue to monitor them on land and at sea, taking action to ensure that there will be fish for our common future.

Mark Dia is the Greenpeace Southeast Asia oceans campaign manager based in Manila, Philippines.

The fishing laws that need fixing

hayley.baker — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:18:28 +0000

The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the set of rules that governs the European fishing industry. It was introduced by the European Union in the 1970s to ensure a profitable and sustainable fishing industry. It has utterly failed. The CFP has failed our fish and our fishermen, and desperately needs fixing.

The CFP is reformed only once every decade and 2012 is going to be a crucial year for the future of our fish. This year that we have the opportunity to fix it. This will probably be our last big chance to stop the collapse of both European fish populations and the EU fishing sector. It’s that important.

Why does the CFP needs fixing?

Europe’s fishing grounds are the largest in the world and were once amongst the most productive. But after 40 years of unsustainable fishing under the CFP, European fish stocks have been seriously depleted. Today, over 70% of fish stocks are overfished.

The CFP favours the most powerful parts of the fishing industry, with the highest environmental impact. Many boats using unsustainable, often destructive, methods have been awarded fishing rights (quota) and have received billions in taxpayer subsidies. This has resulted in companies building bigger boats, capable of catching even more fish. This fleet is so powerful that it can catch 2 to 3 times more fish than the ocean can handle.

What’s the solution?

Sustainable fishing. Over three quarters of the boats in the UK fleet are under ten metres and the majority of these use sustainable methods of catching fish. The small-scale fleet also contributes 65% of full time employment at sea, and generates many other jobs on shore. They are also part of the cultural fabric of coastal communities. However, in the UK, our government has provided the small scale fleet with only four percent of the fishing quota.

The new CFP must put an end to this environmentally damaging and unjust system. It must support sustainable, low-impact fisheries, including those in the small-scale fleet. If we are to salvage a future for our fish and our fishermen, the CFP must only award fishing rights to those who fish in the right way.

What do Greenpeace and sustainable fishermen want from the new CFP?

The new CFP should:

Give fishing rights to those who can clearly demonstrate environmental and social benefits, rewarding those who support local communities and look after their fisheries.

Stop using public money to bankroll destructive fishing practices both in Europe and around the world, and ensure that strict European rules apply equally to all European vessels wherever they fish.

Put the health of our seas and oceans, and the fish stocks they support, at the very heart of the CFP. The CFP must bring an end to needless discarding, match fishing effort to fish stocks and create a better tomorrow for those that fish sustainably.

What can I do?

Join us. Be a fisherman's friend and send a personalised sea shanty petition to Richard Benyon, our Fisheries Minister, demanding reform.

Latest: KFC campaign goes global

Bustar Maitar — Fri, 25 May 2012 13:04:02 +0000

This week saw the launch of new global campaign to stop KFC turning rainforests into trash, by cutting deforestation out of its supply chain.

All week Greenpeace activists have been taking the message to KFC while thousands of people around the world joined the revolt to end KFC’s secret recipe for rainforest destruction.

Our investigation team found KFC has been using rainforest fibre in their packaging in the UK, China and Indonesia and that they have been using paper supplied by Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) – the same company that Greenpeace exposed this February for having illegal timber in their supply chain.

The campaign kicked off at KFC/Yum’s’s Kentucky HQ – nicknamed the “White House” -- where US activists scaled the giant front columns to deliver a message directly to KFC executives. In response, like a headless chicken, different parts of the company said different things. Yum claimed that 60% of their paper is from “sustainable” sources – but then KFC later upped it to 80% in Facebook postings. Not the most convincing or consistent messaging. More concerning, the company doesn’t define what “sustainable sources” are. That isn’t really surprising given that neither KFC nor Yum have global paper buying standards or policies in place. “Sustainable” just becomes anyone’s guess.

Then, in the UK, a buffoonery of orangutans descended upon the KFC HQ in Woking to greet employees on their way into work in the morning and to tell them all about how the Colonel is turning rainforests into rubbish. A couple of hours later, they were spotted in front of a KFC on Oxford Street, where they occupied the storefront for 2 hours in the sweltering heat while Greenpeace activists talked to KFC employees and members of the public about how Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) is supplying KFC with packaging products that are made from Indonesia’s rainforests.

In China where KFC is the country’s biggest fast food company homeless orang-utans and tigers were spotted outside a KFC in Beijing, holding the banner “My home is NOT your disposable food packaging!"

KFC responded in the UK by boldly claiming that their packaging is 100% sustainable. How then do they explain the presence of rainforest fibre in their packaging and the fact that our research has categorically confirmed links between the food giant and APP, including in the UK.

A revolt is truly in the air as more and more people are getting inspired to protect Indonesia’s rainforests from KFC. If you haven’t joined the revolt yet then please do – just pick your revolting packaging character and share with your friends. The more you share the bigger your revolt will become and the harder it will be for KFC to ignore the global call to stop turning rainforests into trash.

Join the revolt now and be a part of the global movement to change KFC’s secret recipe for rainforest destruction.

Greenpeace Response to Energy Bill

petespeller — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:25:22 +0000

25 May, 2012

22 May 2012

Responding to the draft Energy Bill published today, Joss Garman, senior energy campaigner for Greenpeace, said:

“This is an energy omnishambles. This draft law is bad news for people struggling to pay their household bills, bad news for the UK’s renewable energy industry and bad news for our attempts to tackle climate change.

“The government have missed a huge opportunity to get energy bills and carbon emissions under control, and to bring security to our power supplies. There’s a huge hole where the government should have encouraged energy efficiency measures. These would be the fastest and the cheapest way to bring down both bills and emissions.

“The government should also have backed our home-grown renewable energy industry, but instead this shambles of a bill will make it harder to invest in this important sector. Supporting this vital industry would boost the economy and reduce consumers’ exposure to rocketing gas prices.

“The coalition has decided to throw billions of pounds at the failing nuclear industry, which is going to send household bills even higher.

“The Bill’s failed by encouraging a big increase in our dependence on burning expensive imported gas to generate electricity. This too will increase bills for families and businesses and see money going to countries like Qatar and Norway instead of back into the British economy.”

ENDS

Greenpeace press office: 020 7865 8255

LIVE: Orangutans take on KFC

petespeller — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:20:34 +0000

Orangutans deliver a giant KFC bucket to KFC's UK head office

Following the exposing of KFC trashing the rainforest to make fast food packaging yesterday, Greenpeace activists around the world are taking the message direct to KFC.

Follow the action live or join the revolt!

KFC executives have their heads in a bucket

Chris Eaton — Thu, 24 May 2012 07:40:51 +0000

KFC Packaging showing the name of the supplier PT Pinto Deli, an APP subsidiary

Yesterday we released a report exposing KFC for driving rainforest destruction and pushing tigers toward extinction. Sadly, KFC executives have responded by putting a big bucket of denial on their heads.

The company first said that 60% of their packaging in the US comes from “sustainable” sources. Then, they said it was 80%. Hmmm. Then, they started to claim that they don’t buy from Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) in the UK or US.

There are so many things wrong with this statements, we’re going to have to take them one by one.

First, KFC is clearly buying paper products that originate from APP. There is plenty of evidence in our report. I hope KFC executives take the time to read it. But, another way to prove this is with pretty pictures. Above is a photo of a box containing napkins destined for use in KFC. If you look at these napkins you’ll notice that the name PT Pindo Deli. This is an APP company based in Indonesia. Beyond this clear link, we had the napkins tested by an independent lab. You know what they found under the microscope? Mixed Tropical Hardwood wood fiber – in other words, the remnants of rainforests.

Second, KFC executives are using the word “sustainable” in a very creative way. Their mysterious 60%-80% figures seems to include controversial clearcut logging that has been criticized for years by conservationists. If this is what the Colonel calls “sustainable” he has a bad case of denial.

Third, KFC’s statement is specific to the US. This ignores its massive global operations. China – not the US – is KFC’s largest market now. And, buying policy standards (or lack thereof) made in Louisville affect forests around the world.

This is all getting way more complicated than it needs to be. KFC and parent company Yum! Brands clearly have problems in their supply chain. They can be fixed. Other companies have taken on the same issues and figured it out. A global policy that sets standards for the kinds of paper the company will buy – if properly implemented – would do the trick.

But, that won’t happen with a culture of denial. The first step is admitting you have a problem. C’mon Colonel…we know you can do it.

Want to help pull the bucket off the Colonel’s head? Click here to get involved and spread the word worldwide.

KFC’s secret recipe: rainforest destruction

Ian — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:10:30 +0000

KFC no good for rainforests

No matter what you think about fast food, you’ll no doubt agree that rainforests shouldn’t be trashed to make packaging destined for the rubbish pile. But that’s exactly what’s happening. Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) is supplying KFC with packaging products that are made from Indonesia’s rainforests.

The original Colonel Sanders couldn’t have imagined the company he founded in 1930 would be driving rainforest destruction half a world away from where he started it in Kentucky, USA.

But a new Greenpeace International report, ‘How KFC is Junking the Jungle’ shows just that. Thorough supply chain research and forensic testing has revealed how KFC is buying paper products made from rainforest fibre, supplied by APP. APP sources rainforest logs from the habitat of the endangered Sumatran tiger. Last week the company made what it claimed were 'new commitments' to protect forests. In reality it will still continue to rely on rainforest clearance.

Today we are launching a global campaign to persuade KFC and parent company Yum! to clean up their act by cutting rainforest destruction out of their supply chains. To kick things off we’ve released a new video showing the Colonel freak out as his famous secret recipe is finally revealed.

Meanwhile our activists at the KFC headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky have also given executives a wakeup call they couldn’t ignore as they arrived for work this morning. A giant banner with a Sumatran tiger has been placed on the front pillars of the KFC headquarters reading: “KFC Stop Trashing My Home.” The building, nicknamed “the White House” because of its resemblance to the US Presidential residence, looks out on a lake where another team of activists deployed another banner to hundreds of Yum! Brand employees with a similar message.

KFC and Yum! have done the least of any of the top fast food companies to rid their supply chain of rainforest destruction, ignoring the evidence and dragging their feet for years as we and others have tried to get them to change their sourcing. If endangered animals like the Sumatran tiger are to survive in the wild, companies like KFC cannot continue to turn a blind eye to rainforest destruction.

But a revolt is in the air and we need thousands of people like you to join it.

We know KFC and YUM! can do better. Help tell the Colonel that his secret recipe for rainforest destruction is ‘no good’. Right now people across the world, are telling one of the world’s biggest fast food companies that responsible companies don’t turn rainforests into trash.

Join the revolt today and help change KFC’s secret recipe for destruction.

Junking the Jungle: how KFC is driving rainforest destruction in Indonesia

franziskag — Wed, 23 May 2012 11:59:29 +0000

Our research has revealed that KFC is sourcing paper for its packaging products from rainforests. This has been confirmed in China, the UK and Indonesia. Products found to contain rainforest fibre include cups, food boxes, French fries holders, napkins and the famous chicken buckets.

Our research has tracked a number of these products back to Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), a company that continues to rely on rainforest clearance in Indonesia. By purchasing paper from APP and by using paper made from rainforests, KFC and its parent company Yum! Brand Inc. are driving the destruction of forests in countries like Indonesia. These forests are a key defence against climate change and are habitat for many protected species, including the critically endangered Sumatran tiger.

Unlike a number of other major international companies, KFC and Yum! have no sustainability policies to exclude commodities connected to rainforest destruction. In fact, the group has consistently failed to even answer questions about its sourcing of products such as palm oil, soya and paper products.

We are calling on KFC, and its parent Yum!, to immediately implement policies to exclude deforestation from their supply chains and to suspend the use of any products from APP while it continues to clear Indonesia's natural forests.

Join the revolt now!

The Energy Omnishambles

petespeller — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:02:17 +0000

A loop hole in the Energy Bill could see the return of coal-fired power stations

The government's flagship attempt to reform where our electricity comes from prioritises expensive gas and nuclear over renewable energy, doesn’t even mention money saving energy efficiency and is so complicated that even the energy utilities don't understand it.

The Energy Bill, published in draft form by the government yesterday, is supposed to do three things:

Bring down energy bills
Cut carbon emissions from electricity generation
Secure UK power supplies

However, the Bill fails on all fronts, what Malcolm Tucker from The Thick of It would call – amidst a stream of expletives no doubt- an "omnishambles".

The government’s reforms are skewed to fund up to eight new nuclear power stations because nuclear costs are soaring and new reactors are unprofitable for private companies. To do this they’ve designed a complex set of rules intended to dodge claims that they are actually subsidising nuclear power, because all main parties have agreed that there will be no new public subsidy for nuclear power. This is set to pile huge costs onto already struggling bill payers and critically undermine support for renewable energy.

The independent Committee on Climate Change has advised that the UK electricity sector must be almost carbon-free by 2030 if the UK is to meet the carbon emission reductions set out in the Climate Change Act. It’s nowhere to be seen in the bill.

What does appear though is a limit on emissions from power stations that will stop the construction of coal plants without technologies that keep the carbon they generate out of the atmosphere. Even this, though, is not immune from a whiff of the shambles that taints this entire bill.

The Government has so far refused to rule out the possibility that new coal plants built to test the experiment of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) will then need to abide by the limit on emissions if the CCS experiment fails. In other words, the limit on emissions proposed in the bill might bring back the spectre of coal plants like Kingsnorth polluting our skies and undermining our reputation as a progressive country on climate change.

To compound this – with a little prod from the Treasury – the Department for Energy and Climate Change is also giving an assurance to gas plants that they can pollute to their hearts content up to 2045, at just the point when it should be sending a signal to industry that the era of unconstrained emissions from all fossil fuels is coming to an end. Shambles barely covers it.

With recent household energy bill hikes overwhelmingly caused by expensive gas imports, the Bill would lead to a future of unstable, expensive energy. One measure that could actually bring bills down, energy efficiency, doesn't even get a look in.

The good news is that this is just a draft Bill and can be changed. We will be working with Friends of the Earth, WWF, RSPB and others to drag it into the 21st century. We’re going to need your help. Watch this space.

Junking the jungle

petespeller — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:32:15 +0000

Publication date: 22 May, 2012

Greenpeace International research has revealed that KFC is sourcing paper for its packaging products from rainforests. This has been confirmed in China, the UK and Indonesia. Products found to contain rainforest fibre include cups, food boxes, French fries holders, napkins and the famous chicken buckets. Greenpeace research has tracked a number of these products back to Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), a company that continues to rely on rainforest clearance in Indonesia. By purchasing from APP and by using paper made from rainforests, KFC and its parent company YUM! are driving the destruction of forests in countries like Indonesia. These forests are a key defence against climate change and are habitat for many protected species including the critically endangered Sumatran tiger.

Junking the Jungle

Links for 2009-11-17 [del.icio.us]

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

The changing face of China's coal industry
China's coal industry is becoming more efficient - and not in a good way.

Links for 2009-11-12 [del.icio.us]

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

Environmental lobby group accused of 'eco-snobbery'
It's "the eco equivalent of political correctness gone mad” according to aviation industry figureheads Flying Matters, as 10:10 refuses to let Manchester Airport sign up to its emissions reduction campaign.

Links for 2009-11-06 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

FT.com / UK - Heating up
A good summary of where we're at with the barcelona climate talks in the run up to Copenhagen from the FT.

Links for 2009-11-04 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

Climate Rescue Weblog: “Please save our home”
An update from out campaigner Bustar at the forests defender camp in Kampar.
Mèlanie Laurent joins the Climate Defenders Camp
Tarantino's latest muse drops in to the climate defenders camp.

Links for 2009-11-02 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

Climate Rescue Weblog: The King of the Jungle
Rob, who's been setting up the climate defenders camp in Kampar, tells the tale of swamps, big banners, and 40 degree hikes through the jungle.
Greenpeace International: Dam - it's even harder than it looks!
A detailed guide to how to go about damming an Indonesian peat-draining canal, in case you were wondering how to go about it...
Greenepace International: Kampar Camp Construction
A detailed guide to building your own climate defenders camp in the heart of the Indonesian rainforest.

Links for 2009-10-28 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PDT

When mummy is an activist - Times Online
Emma tells the Times what it's like balancing climbing up parliament with raising twins.

Links for 2009-10-27 [del.icio.us]

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Climate Rescue Weblog: Climate Defenders Camp
Our climate defenders camp is set up in Kampar - from Greenpeace International.
Climate Defenders Camp
Some background information about the climate defenders camp from Greenpeace International.