Greenpeace UK Press Releases

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

Greenpeace Response to Green Investment Bank in Queen’s Speech

petespeller — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:43:16 +0000

9 May, 2012

9 May 2012

Greenpeace Response to Green Investment Bank in Queen’s Speech

Responding to the inclusion of the Green Investment Bank in today’s Queen’s Speech, Louise Hutchins, senior energy campaigner for Greenpeace, said:

“The Green Investment Bank could well be a key vehicle to help us out of these tough economic times, and also a clever way to tackle climate change while giving a much needed boost to cutting edge, clean home-grown technologies.

“But it will struggle to do these important things if the Bank is little more than a poorly funded quango. It’s got to have the borrowing powers that will see it succeed, and that will bring success to the British renewable energy industry.”

ENDS

Greenpeace press office: 020 7865 8255

Greenpeace Response to Electricity Market Reform Bill in Queen’s Speech

petespeller — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:41:57 +0000

9 May, 2012

Greenpeace Response to Electricity Market Reform Bill in Queen’s Speech

Responding to the inclusion of the Energy Bill in today’s Queen’s Speech, Jim Footner, head of Greenpeace’s climate and energy campaign, said:

“People normally dread energy bills, which have been soaring due to rocketing gas prices. But the Energy Bill announced today by the Queen could actually save people money.

“It can do this by taking the side of the bill-payer, and not the side of energy companies like Centrica, who want us to fork out for expensive gas imports and nuclear energy. Our household budgets just can’t afford a new dash for imported gas nor for nuclear reactors which are going to cost at least £7billion each.

“But this Bill isn’t only a chance for the Coalition government to tackle both household bills and climate change. It’s also a chance for them to rescue any claim they have to be a green government. And they can only do that if the Bill backs clean, cutting-edge renewable energy and energy efficiency.”

ENDS

Greenpeace press office: 020 7865 8255

Centrica HQ shut down with ‘world’s biggest bill’

jamie — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:54:33 +0000

Government documents reveal British Gas owner expecting gas supply to shrink

30 April, 2012

Dozens of Greenpeace campaigners have shut down the headquarters of ‘Big Six’ energy company Centrica this morning in a row over rising household energy bills.

The Greenpeace campaigners have blockaded the private road leading to the Windsor-based HQ with a spoof energy bill measuring 260 square feet, which says ‘Your energy bill ripoff is being fuelled by gas hikes’.

All the entrances have also been sealed with large bills, which have been printed on to sheets of wood and locked to the doors. Hundreds of employees of the British Gas parent company are expected to be turned away.

The average energy bill increased by £150 in the last year. £100 of this was solely due to rising gas prices, according to figures from Ofgem, the government’s energy watchdog. Direct subsidies for renewable energy have increased little over the last few years and make up only £25 of the total average annual bill.

Centrica are expecting the supply of gas to shrink, documents obtained by Greenpeace under Freedom of Information laws reveal. This could force bills even higher. The government document says that ‘Centrica judges that by 2013-2014 they expect the global over-supply of gas to disappear.’

The energy company has been lobbying politicians recently to persuade the government to use more gas and less clean energy in its energy mix, to persuade the UK government against establishing new pollution standards for power stations and also to persuade the EU to water down binding commitments on reducing energy demand.

Five of the campaigners are inside the closed-off building, and are trying to locate the office of Centrica boss Sam Laidlaw. They have rolls of wallpaper printed with energy bills which they are hoping to use to re-decorate the room. The campaigners are using a method which ensures that the wallpaper can be easily removed and won’t cause any damage.

Laidlaw has faced criticism recently for pocketing a multi-million pound pay and bonus package while consumers’ bills rose. He has also been under fire in the last few days over allegations of using a tax avoidance scheme.

Lawrence Carter, a Greenpeace campaigner who is currently inside the HQ, said:

“The energy company Centrica is ripping us off. The bills that they are sending out are soaring, and that’s because Centrica uses too much expensive, imported gas.

“Centrica have got to get off gas. The average energy bill has risen by £150 in the last year, and £100 of that is due solely to the rocketing price of gas.

“If Centrica instead invested in clean, cutting-edge renewable energy and energy efficiency, they would help to both bring household bills under control and to tackle climate change.”

A recent report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance showed that Centrica has the least renewable energy of all the Big Six energy companies.

ENDS

Greenpeace press office: 020 7865 8255 and 07717 704577

Note: In 2004 Renewable Obligation Certificates accounted for 1.0% of a dual fuel bill. In March 2012, they account for 1.9% of an annual dual fuel bill. The annual bill amounts in these cases are £1,325 for 2012 and £595 for 2004. That means that subsidies for large-scale renewables account add just £25 a year to a dual fuel bill, and have increased by just £20 since 2004.

Greenpeace Response to Government Gas Fracking Go-ahead

petespeller — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:17:09 +0000

17 April, 2012

Responding to news that government advisors have given the go-ahead for gas fracking in the UK, Joss Garman, Greenpeace’s senior energy campaigner, said:

“This could be bad news for consumers and would be very damaging for UK efforts to tackle climate change.

“That’s because there’s absolutely no indication that fracking for shale gas will reduce soaring household energy bills, while scientific studies suggest that this kind of gas could be as polluting as coal.

“This would also be a major blow for the British renewable energy industry, which would see investment hijacked by a new dash for gas. Our home-grown renewable energy companies could provide thousands of jobs and develop world-leading cutting-edge technologies. But they will only be able to do that if they get the investment needed.”

ENDS

Greenpeace press office: 020 7865 8255

Notes for editors:

The British Geological Survey put the likely resources of shale gas in UK at 4.7 trillion cubic feet, one-40th of the figure suggested by fracking company, Cuadrilla. Even then, only about 5% to 10% of that BGS figure is likely to be recoverable. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/apr/17/gas-fracking-gets-green-light
A major study in Nature by US scientists suggested shale gas fracking would be as damaging for the climate as coal. http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/02/08/421588/high-methane-emissions-measured-over-gas-field-offset-climate-benefits-of-natural-gasquot/
A report by independent energy consultancy Poyry, done for energy regulator OFGEM, indicated shale gas is unlikely to bring down costs for consumers in the UK. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/20/exxon-shale-europe-idUSL5E8DK6TJ20120220

Ed Davey announces major green u-turn - Greenpeace response

jamie — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 10:19:22 +0000

16 March, 2012

Ed Davey’s Department for Energy and Climate Change has tonight informed journalists of an environmental U-turn that will see regulations on gas plants’ pollution stripped away.

Commenting on this major development, Greenpeace senior energy campaigner Joss Garman said:

“This is the Liberal Democrats’ most craven submission yet to George Osborne’s bonfire of environmental protections. By stripping away the simple requirement that our power stations need to become more efficient and less polluting, Clegg and Davey are undoing whatever good work their party has done on the environment since entering government. Indeed, this announcement is such a fundamental betrayal of their commitment to tackle climate change that one wonders if green-minded voters will, in all good conscience, struggle to support them again.”

He continued:

“If our power stations are left to burn the same amount of gas for decades to come then we stay hooked on a fuel that will keep bills high, make us reliant on imports and, crucially, crash our carbon targets. This is a major change of course from the one followed by Chris Huhne, and is just about the worst thing Ed Davey could have done in his first weeks in office.”

The Emissions Performance Standard that has today been so severely neutered was championed by the Conservative Party in opposition, as part of its raft of polices to address climate change. The EPS establishes the level of carbon which an electricity generating plant is allowed to emit for a given unit of power. The Government currently intends to set the EPS for new power plants at 450 g of CO2 per kilowatt hour. But to comply with the recommendations of the Committee on Climate Change, that level would need to fall to 50 g per kwh at 2030. Instead, the Government has announced today that any gas plant consented under the current level of the EPS, could still be polluting at that level 30 years later, in 2045.

The Committee on Climate Change has said that “clear and radical long-term emission reduction objectives, such as the Committee’s proposed 80% by 2050 target, which will only be achievable if electricity generation is almost completely decarbonised by 2030.” http://www.theccc.org.uk/pdf/7980-TSO%20Book%20Chap%205.pdf

This would mean means emissions from power stations must be at or below the level of 50g per kwh in 2030. http://www.theccc.org.uk/sectors/power

According to the Government’s most recent estimates, published in DECC’s Updated Emissions Projectionsi in October 2011, an additional 4.9 gigawatts (GW) of new gas-fired electricity generation capacity is projected to come online by 2020. Of this, 4.1GW is projected by 2016. However, analysis suggests that this may be a significant under-estimate. New gas projects with government consent currently amount to 16.2GW. Information from National Grid and New Power shows that all of these projects could be online before 2020. This level of unabated gas operating at 450 g kwh at 2030, let alone 2045, would make it impossible for the UK to meet its long-term carbon emission reduction goals. http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/enough_is_enough_2012.pdf

Recent rises in energy prices have been shown to be largely the result of rising gas prices. This analysis is shared by the energy regulator Ofgem http://www.theccc.org.uk/news/press-releases/1132-household-energy-bill-increases-caused-primarily-by-rising-cost-of-gas-not-environmental-policies and the Committee on Climate Change http://www.theccc.org.uk/news/press-releases/1132-household-energy-bill-increases-caused-primarily-by-rising-cost-of-gas-not-environmental-policies

Gas lobbyists have claimed that the exploitation of shale gas would result in lower gas prices in future. However, analysis from Poyry and from Deutche Bank concludes that the impact of shale gas on consumer bills would be very little. http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/About%20us/PwringEnergyDeb/Documents1/Lucy%20Field%20Presentation.pdf (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2011/nov/03/shale-gas-game-changer-fracking?INTCMP=SRCH)

ENDS

Greenpeace – 0207 865 8255 / 07801 212967

Kingsnorth closure - Greenpeace response

jamie — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 12:22:49 +0000

8 March, 2012

Responding to news today that the power station at Kingsnorth in Kent is to close down, Ben Stewart of Greenpeace, who was one of six campaigners acquitted of criminal damage in 2008 after shutting down the coal plant, said:

“This decision signals the drawing to an end of unabated highly polluting coal in Britain. Eon spent many wasted years trying to push through their controversial plan for another old-fashioned polluting coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth.

“It was a bad plan that didn’t serve Britain and pushed us behind in the global race for cutting-edge clean energy and the industries that can bring tens of thousands of skilled jobs across the country. Eon now has an opportunity to change path and back modern renewable energy technologies, and not make the same mistake again by chasing after polluting gas.”

In 2008, six Greenpeace volunteers were acquitted of criminal damage by a Crown Court jury after shutting down the Kingsnorth coal-fired power station in Kent. The defendants pleaded ‘not guilty’ and relied in court on the defence of ‘lawful excuse’, claiming they shut the power station in order to defend property of a greater value from the global impact of climate change.

Kingsnorth was recently the site of a proposed new coal-fired power station until Eon dropped the plan in 2009.

ENDS

Greenpeace press office: 020 7865 8255

Security Breach at National Gallery for Arctic Oil Protest

bex — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:17:25 +0000

21 February, 2012

Environmental campaigners have evaded security and scaled the National Gallery in London’s Trafalgar Square.

The gallery, home to thousands of paintings including masterpieces by Georges Seurat, Paul Cezanne, Vincent van Gogh and Leonardo da Vinci, is this evening hosting an event for energy giant Shell, who is planning to drill for oil in the Arctic this summer.

The campaigners, from Greenpeace, are preparing to drop a 40 metre square banner, which has a picture of an oil rig and the words ’It’s No Oil Painting’, down the front of the gallery.

Hannah Davey from Greenpeace, who is currently on the roof of the National Gallery, said:

“Shell is using the National Gallery this evening to try and impress people they’ve invited along. But, at the same time, they’re planning to drill for oil in the freezing Arctic, our planet’s last wild ocean. The Arctic’s coastlines are home to indigenous people, and its waters nurture polar bears, beluga whales and walruses.

“We’re here to tell Shell, and their guests, that oil companies have to keep out of the Arctic. The region is too fragile to risk an oil spill that experts say would be almost impossible to clean up.”

Shell is the first major international oil company to make exploitation of the Arctic a key focus. If the company strikes oil this summer, it is feared that other global oil giants will join them in drilling in the Arctic wilderness.

The total estimated Arctic oil reserves would satisfy just three years of current global oil demand, but would contribute significantly to carbon emissions and pose a grave risk to the local eco-system (1).

ENDS
Note:
1. According to the US Geological Survey the Arctic contains a maximum of 90 billion barrels of oil. Global demand is currently roughly 90 million barrels per day (mb/d); the IEA’s world energy outlook 2011 anticipates that oil demand (excluding biofuels) will rise from 87 mb/d in 2010 to 99 mb/d in 2035. By calculation, this amounts to at most three years of global oil consumption in the Arctic.

Comment on UK-France nuclear power deal

petespeller — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:31:29 +0000

17 February, 2012

Statement by Dr Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK

"No amount of talking up of the French nuclear industry by David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy will cover up the fact that the economics of new nuclear reactors don't stack up. The track record of EDF in building new nuclear power stations on time and to budget is appalling. Recently the independent risk agency Standard and Poor downgraded EDF’s creditworthiness. All this came just a few months after a French judge sentenced a number of EDF senior executives to prison for unscrupulous acts of spying. French nuclear power is no longer popular even in France.

So instead of using UK taxpayers' money to prop up failing French industries, David Cameron should follow the lead of Germany and concentrate on securing vast numbers of jobs and economic growth in the rapidly expanding clean energy industries such as wind and solar power."

Comment on Greenhouse gas rise in 2010

Louise Hutchins — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:41:43 +0000

7 February, 2012

Commenting on the DECC figures showing an increase in greenhouse carbon emissions in 2010 Louise Hutchins from Greenpeace said:
“This was meant to be the decade when we slashed our emissions and sparked a green jobs bonanza, but instead we’re seeing progress stalling. The fact that the latest jump in figures is partly down to the cold snap in 2010 is no excuse, after all Sweden has higher energy costs and colder winters but their bills are lower because they have better insulated homes. To copy their success the government’s flagship green deal will need more resources, and that requires greater political ambition. Ed Davey gets it, now let’s see him deliver.”

ENDS

New Mox plant annoucement - Greenpeace response

jamie — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:54:54 +0000

1 December, 2011

Responding to the parliamentary written answer from Charles Hendry at Decc announcing the building a new Mox plant, Dr Douglas Parr, Policy Director at Greenpeace UK said:

“This is crazynomics – the reality is that the nuclear fairytale is a nuclear nightmare. Having announced the closure of a Mox plant because it was colossally inefficient and because there was no market for its service the government now wants to build another one that will fast become a hugely expensive white elephant.

"This proposal will lead to a subsidised plant creating subsidised fuel so that subsidised operators can produce subsidised electricity and then receive subsidised waste disposal. The only winners in this are the nuclear operators already rich with their 18% domestic fuel price rises this year.”

Greenpeace samba campaigners in London join worldwide call to save Amazon

jamie — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 11:45:02 +0000

29 November, 2011

Greenpeace campaigners in London today joined forces with a samba band and marched to the Brazilian Embassy in a last-ditch bid to save the Amazon.

The activists paraded from Hyde Park to the embassy in Mayfair, where a banner saying ‘Save the Amazon’ was hoisted on a lamp-post and the band played for the embassy staff.

The activists were part of a worldwide effort which saw similar activities take place around the world, including Paris, Rome, Berlin, Mexico City and Washington DC. These global activities are aimed to remind Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff that almost 80 per cent of Brazilians want the Amazon protected.

Six years of falling Amazon deforestation was brought to a halt this year, when the rate of destruction increased dramatically. Experts have blamed this rise in the predicted weakening of the Forest Code – the piece of legislation designed to protect the world’s largest rainforest. It is expected that that there will be an amnesty in the revised Forest Code for illegal deforestation.

The amended Forest Code is about to face a final vote by Brazil’s politicians before receiving Presidential approval.

High Street giants including Tesco, Sainsburys, Marks and Spencer, Waitrose, MacDonalds, Asda, the Co-op, Nike, Timberland and Clarks have all voiced concerns about the recent rise in Amazon destruction and a weakened Forest Code.

Gabriela Goncalves, who grew up in the Amazon city of Belém and joined the activity in London today, said:

“The Amazon is hugely important to the people of Brazil, and that’s why around 80 per cent of us want to see it protected. President Dilma has a chance right now to save the Amazon, and I’m here today at my country’s embassy to ask her to do just that – for the people of Brazil, and for the planet.”

Sarah Shoraka, forest campaigner for Greenpeace, said:

“An overwhelming majority of Brazilian people want to see the Amazon protected, and they are supported by international companies. But right now President Dilma is the Amazon’s last hope. So we’re here in London and at embassies around the world to ask her to stop the chainsaws and save the rainforest.”

Deforestation is the leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil. Politicians from around the world are gathering in Durban this week for the latest round of climate change talks. Next year is the 20th anniversary of the historic international conference in Rio de Janeiro that catalysed action to protect the environment. The meeting will be held in Rio in 2012, to mark the anniversary.

ENDS

Pictures available - contact photo.uk@greenpeace.org
Greenpeace press office: 020 7865 8255

Greenpeace direct action at transport ministry ends with 16 arrests

jamie — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:09:38 +0000

28 November, 2011

Sixteen environmental activists were arrested outside the Department for Transport in London today after they used chains, plywood boards and cars to blockade the entrances “to stop officials and Ministers lobbying for tar sands.” The two main doorways into the Ministry were closed off for more than seven hours until police arrested the campaigners for alleged aggravated trespass.

Greenpeace carried out the direct action following revelations that the British government has been offering high-level support to Canadian and oil industry lobbyists with vested interests in the expansion of highly polluting tar sands mining, and British Ministers have worked to try and block a key proposal that would prevent the dirtiest oil in the world from entering petrol pumps across Europe. (1)

Campaigners from the environmental group also demonstrated outside UK embassies in Berlin, Paris and Stockholm today over the issue.

This coming Friday officials from all 27 EU member states will meet in Brussels for an important discussion and possible vote on the European proposal – called the ‘Fuel Quality Directive’ - that would effectively ban tar sands from Europe for being too polluting.

Greenpeace energy campaigner, Paul Morrozzo, explained, “British Ministers should be more concerned with creating green jobs in Europe than dirty jobs in Canada, but instead they’ve been caving in to the demands of oil industry lobbyists. This morning our volunteers prevented them from doing Big Oil’s dirty work but now Nick Clegg should intervene and rescue his party’s environmental reputation by backing a European ban on tar sands.”

Today’s activity in London coincided with the opening day of the UN climate talks in South Africa.

For more information/interviews:

Greenpeace UK Press Office 020 7865 8255

For photography and video:

Photo.uk@greenpeace.org

020 7865 8118

Notes:

(1) http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/27/canada-oil-sands-uk-backing?intcmp=122

Campaigners blockade DfT in direct action over oil lobbying

jamie — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 07:38:40 +0000

28 November, 2011

50 activists chained outside ministry on opening day of UN climate talks
Direct action follows fresh oil lobbying revelations

As the UN climate talks opened this morning more than fifty environmental activists took direct action to blockade both major entrances to the UK’s Department of Transport (DfT) in London whilst other campaigners demonstrated with banners outside British embassies in Paris, Berlin and Stockholm.

Campaigners are targeting the British government after documents released showed how officials from its transport department are working to sabotage a key European proposal that would block tar sands oil, the dirtiest oil in the world, from ending up in petrol pumps across Europe. (1) The environmentalists say the UK is doing Big Oil’s dirty work following lobbying by oil majors including BP and Shell.

At around 7.30 am, teams of Greenpeace activists used large plywood boards, locks and chains to seal off the doorways of the DfT to stop officials from getting into their offices. The boards are painted with a gigantic ‘lobbying handshake’ and marked with the brands of oil companies BP, Shell and Exxon. Other activists have unfurled a huge banner reading ‘HM Department for Tar Sands’ whilst many others have chained themselves together and to the doorways so as to make any eviction attempt more difficult.

Today’s direct action comes less than a week before officials from all over Europe will meet in Brussels for a possible decision about whether they will approve a European plan called the ‘Fuel Quality Directive.’ This would effectively prevent the most polluting fuels in the world from entering European forecourts, and bring down the carbon footprint of Europe’s transport fuels by 6% between 2010 and 2020. (2) If passed the directive would deal a major blow to plans to expand Canada’s tar sands oil extraction programme, which is why the oil industry – and the UK on their behalf - has mounted an aggressive lobbying effort to kill the plan. A majority of European countries must back the plan for it to become law, and right now the vote could go either way because of a UK-led diplomatic offensive to scupper it. (3)

Greenpeace energy campaigner, Paul Morrozzo, explained:

“It’s deeply hypocritical that whilst our Ministers will jet off this week to the international climate talks in South Africa to talk about the need to cut carbon emissions, away from the cameras here at home they’re doing everything they can to scupper a key European plan that would do just that. Officials in this building are using wrecking ball tactics to try and sabotage important European moves to make our economy cleaner and less reliant on the most polluting and destructively extracted types of oil like tar sands.”

Morrozzo added:

“Extracting oil from tar sands emits on average between three and five times more carbon dioxide than conventional oil drilling. David Cameron and Nick Clegg should intervene to ensure oil lobbyists and their allies in the Department for Transport don’t manage to derail this key European move away from one of the dirtiest energy sources known to man.”

Earlier this month President Obama caused a set back to the tar sands expansion when he ordered a review into the controversial XL Pipeline that would carry Canadian tar sands into the United States. (4) Greenpeace believes that if Europe approves the Fuel Quality Directive, by cutting off one of the biggest oil demand markets, it could halt the expansion of tar sands extraction altogether.

For more information:

Joss Garman 07815 004 578

Greenpeace UK Press Office
020 7865 8255

For photography and video:

Greenpeace UK Picture Desk
+ 44 207 865 8118
Photo.uk@greenpeace.org

Notes:

(1) http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/27/canada-oil-sands-uk-backing and http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/95a7c872-fd7f-11e0-b6d9-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1e3fKQZ5v
(2) http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/04/oil-sands-imports-eu-ban and http://www.euractiv.com/climate-environment/britain-accused-stalling-eu-tar-sands-regulation-news-508576
(3) http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Minister+hopeful+directive+penalizing+oilsands+will+blocked/5670345/story.html
(4) http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gn-MUkyzUqnUPUT0YGiVxvi4PFJA?docId=N0595871321016604109A

Pensioners and environmentalists unite over fuel poverty winter deaths outrage

jamie — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:53:34 +0000

22 November, 2011

Today activists from Greenpeace and the National Pensioners Convention (NPC) joined forces outside Parliament to challenge George Osborne to take urgent action to end fuel poverty as official figures showed there had been 25,700 excess winter deaths in 2010/11.

To bring the shocking reality of freezing homes to George Osborne’s attention, Greenpeace and the NPC created a life sized ice covered living room, on St Margaret’s Street, right outside parliament.

Commenting on the joint action, John Sauven, Executive Director of Greenpeace said:

“Today’s figures on excess winter deaths are a chilling warning that urgent action is needed by George Osborne to protect lives this winter after the big six energy companies have sent bills soaring. This is a crisis. The Chancellor must use his Autumn Statement to raise the winter fuel payment to older people and restore the funding for home insulation to save lives, help hard pressed households, create jobs and reduce climate wrecking carbon emissions.

“Increased tax revenues from higher fuel bills can help cover the costs. In addition there will be tax income from new jobs in the insulation industry and NHS savings. At the moment the NHS is spending £850m dealing with the impact of cold housing on people's health.”

Today’s action is the first joint event organised by Greenpeace and the National Pensioners Convention following an agreement by the two organisations to work together to campaign on issues around domestic energy including energy efficiency and clean energy supplies that will bring fuel bills under control in the future.

Dot Gibson, General Secretary of the National Pensioners Convention and one of today’s demonstrators said:

“Up to 3m pensioner households are already living in fuel poverty and the situation is only going to get worse now that the government has cut the winter fuel allowance at a time when the big six energy companies are hiking up their prices. Every year over 20,000 older people die from cold related illnesses - because they are unable to keep warm, which is why George Osborne must use his Autumn Statement to tackle this scandal. What older people need now is more support through a higher winter fuel allowance and more funding for home insulation measures so that when the cold weather comes they will not have to choose between heating or eating."

In his 2011 Budget George Osborne cut the level of winter fuel payments from £250 to £200 for those over 60 and cut payments from £400 to £300 for those over 80. He also slashed funding for the Warm Front insulation scheme for those most in need. Warm Front was designed to make homes cheaper to heat and cut climate damaging carbon emissions. The Warm Front budget has been cut from £345m to £110m.

ENDS

For press enquiries call Niall on 07711 156 881

For photos of today’s action call the Greenpeace picture desk call 0207 865 8118

Notes to Editors

Letter from Greenpeace and NPC to George Osborne click this link

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/document/excess-winter-deaths-letter-george-osborne

Joint Letter to MPs click this link

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/document/excess-winter-deaths-letter-mps

Aviation industry demands end to air passenger duty - Greenpeace response

jamie — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:54:01 +0000

17 November, 2011

Responding to demands by figures in the aviation industry to scrap air passenger duty, Graham Thompson of Greenpeace said:

"It's a bit rich for Mr O'Leary, the man who wants you to spend a pound every time you spend a penny (1), to complain about extra charges on top of the ticket price that ensure we all pay for our pollution. The real story here is that many passengers are switching to more convenient, comfortable and climate-friendly rail routes, leading to trains increasing their market share of intercity travel by over a third in the last five years (2). That, in combination with the UK aviation market being massively over-supplied (3), is the real reason for this drop in demand."

(1) www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1263905/Ryanair-toilet-charges-phased-in.html

(2) According to the Civil Aviation Authority, UK airports handled 48.7 million passengers in 2007, but that number fell to 38 million last year - a fall of 22%. Rail appears to have been a major beneficiary and competitor. The Association of Train Operating Companies said intercity rail journeys had risen by 19% since 2007, while on the top 10 domestic air routes, including London to Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow, rail's market share versus airlines has risen from 32% to 44% since 2007. "In what is a highly competitive market, better services and more cheap tickets are encouraging more and more people to choose rail to travel between the UK's main cities," said ATOC.

(3) Jim French, chairman and chief executive of Flybe added that, according to the Civil Aviation Authority, domestic air travel had fallen 20% over the past four years, as an over-supplied market bottomed out. "It is a combination of the economic and business cutbacks over the period, but I truthfully think that the market was over-supplied five to 10 years ago," said French, pointing to a subsequent scaling down of domestic routes by Ryanair and easyJet, as well as the sale of British Airways' domestic operations to Flybe in 2006.

Sales of Frozen Planet final episode - Greenpeace comment

jamie — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 11:17:00 +0000

15 November, 2011

Reacting to the news that a third of the countries buying the BBC's Frozen Planet series have not bought the final episode detailing the effects of climate change on the poles, Ben Stewart of Greenpeace said:

"It's regrettable that millions of viewers in the US won't be getting the full story when they watch this mesmerising series. It's like pressing the stop button on Titanic just when the iceberg appears. Climate change is the most important part of the polar story, the warming in the Arctic can't be denied, it's changing the environment there in ways that are making experts fearful for the future. The networks which haven't bought the last episode are doing a disservice to their viewers and adding their weight to a campaign against science."

ENDS

Greenpeace press office - 0207 865 8255

Link to Daily Telegraph story

Energy giant EDF found guilty of spying on Greenpeace

jamie — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:17:12 +0000

10 November, 2011

Energy Giant EDF has today been found guilty of spying on Greenpeace.

At 14.00hours French Judge Isabelle Prévost-Desprez pronounced a verdict of guilty in the trial of French state owned energy giant EDF, which was accused of industrial scale espionage against Greenpeace. She sentenced EDF executive Pierre-Paul François to 3 years imprisonment, with 30 months suspended and Pascal Durieux 3 years imprisonment, two years suspended and a 10,000 Euro fine for commissioning the spying operation.

The judge also handed down a guilty verdict in the case of Thierry Lorho, the head of Kargus, the company employed by EDF to hack into the computers of Greenpeace. He has been sentenced to three years in jail, with two suspended and a 4,000 Euro fine.

Additionally, EDF has been fined 1.5 million Euros and ordered to pay half a million Euros in damages to Greenpeace.

Speaking from outside the courtroom in Paris, Greenpeace's Executive Director in France, Adelaide Colin, said:

"The fine against EDF and the damages awarded to Greenpeace send a strong message to the nuclear industry that no one is above the law. This case should send a signal to any country considering building reactors with EDF that the company can't be trusted. Instead of working with the nuclear industry, countries should invest in clean, safe sources of renewable electricity."

During evidence presented to the court by the French prosecutor the judge heard that EDF had been hacking into the hard drives of Greenpeace computers and had placed a 'Trojan Horse' in the hard drive of one computer that enabled the company to access private emails and documents being written by Greenpeace.

It also emerged at the trial that EDF had hired the industrial espionage company Kargus to compile a dossier on the work of Greenpeace UK. This was during the period EDF was attempting to get its foot in the door of the UK nuclear energy market through the purchase of British Energy.

Speaking from alongside the new Rainbow Warrior, currently on its maiden voyage and docked in London Greenpeace UK Executive Director John Sauven said:

"The evidence presented at the trial showed that the espionage undertaken by EDF in its efforts to discredit Greenpeace was both extensive and totally illegal. The company should now give a full account of the spying operation it mounted against its critics. As one of the six companies with a monopoly over electricity supply in this country and a major sponsor of the Olympics, EDF has a duty to come clean. The length of the sentences handed down shows just how seriously the judge views what the French state owned company did."

He continued:

"The verdict comes on the day that thousands of EDF customers in the UK face price hikes averaging over 15% for gas. EDF could demonstrate real regret for its illegal spying operation by using its increased profits to help those in fuel poverty, and by investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency."

ENDS

For press enquiries call Niall on 07711 156 881

Notes to Editors

A full PDF of the dossier compiled by EDF on Greenpeace UK is available from the press office.

John Sauven, Executive Director of Greenpeace UK will be available for interviews from 16.00hrs today, 10 November

Energy agency present grave climate warning - Greenpeace response

jamie — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:04:53 +0000

9 November, 2011

Commenting on a new report by the respected International Energy Agency warning that the chances of preventing dangerous climate change are narrowing rapidly, Charlie Kronick of Greenpeace said:

“This new report makes for sobering reading. We’re looking at the construction of a huge number of new polluting power stations that will be pumping CO2 into the atmosphere for decades. The decisions being made by politicians today risk passing a monumental carbon debt to the next generation, one for which they will pay a very heavy price. The eurozone crisis is getting all the headlines right now but it's the decisions our leaders are making on energy could be their toxic legacy.”

He continued:

“Despite the warnings in this report, the future is not pre-ordained. Every year the take-up of renewable energy grows faster than the previous year, while only last week the US energy secretary said solar power will be cheaper than fossil fuels in a decade or little more. But what's seriously lacking is a global plan and the political leverage to enact it. Governments have a chance to begin to turn this around when they meet in Durban later this month for the next round of global climate talks.”

ENDS

Greenpeace – 0207 865 8255

Note: US energy secretary Steve Chu comments on solar power

LABOUR HEATHROW U-TURN – GREENPEACE RESPONDS

jamess — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:31:22 +0000

31 October, 2011

Commenting on the Labour party's decision to reverse policy and oppose the expansion of Heathrow airport, Doug Parr, Greenpeace Chief Scientist said:

"For advocates of Heathrow expansion their runway has reached the end of the road. Opponents of Heathrow expansion have clearly won the argument, resulting in a cross-party consensus against a new runway. Aviation lobbyists who have lately been trying to resurrect expansion should now accept defeat and concentrate instead on reducing the airline industry's carbon emissions to an acceptable level. Meanwhile the community around Heathrow will be celebrating and can be proud of the campaign it ran to protect their villages from destruction."

In 2009 Greenpeace purchased a slice of the land earmarked by airport operator BAA for a third runway at Heathrow. Originally purchased by Alistair McGowan, Emma Thompson and Zac Goldsmith, the land was then parcelled up in tens of thousands of tiny plots which were then 'owned' in a deed of trust by members of the public opposed to expansion.

ENDS

Greenpeace press office – 0207 865 8255