Don’t be a part of any
energy [r]evoultion you can’t dance to
29 May 2008 - Lisbon, Portugal — Anyone
who has ever thrown on a pair of headphones
when pondering a problem knows that music
can induce inspiration.
Our politicians aren't very inspired at
the moment, so we're asking the musicians
and crowd at the Rock in Rio festival in
Lisbon to compose a small symphony of musical
encouragement to help them to crack the
climate protection conundrum. Want to join
in?
Psychologists Oliver
Sacks and Daniel Levitin suggest that music
can have a profound effect on our brains
– actually, physically changing the way
we think. Music opens up channels to some
of the most primitive parts of our grey
matter, it taps into the subconscious, and
it stimulates a unique form of non-linguistic,
non-visual pattern recognition that can
draw our thoughts down unconventional paths,
and lead to breakthrough insights.
So when the organisers
of one of Europe’s biggest music festivals,
Rock in Rio, asked us if we’d like a platform
at their Lisbon gig from which to promote
our work to save the climate, we didn’t
hesitate. Music encourages new thinking.
Our leaders are short on ideas. Let’s put
these facts together, and inspire our leaders
to think better… with music.
Rock in Rio (don’t ask
why it’s in Lisbon and not in Brazil) will
be hosting acts like Lenny Kravitz, Amy
Winehouse, Rod Stewart, Joss Stone, Alanis
Morissette, Linkin Park, Metallica, The
Offspring, Bon Jovi, and Finnish cello metal
band Apocalyptica. Surely there's some inspiration
for world leaders of any musical persuasion
in that mix. We suspect George Bush is probably
a closet Metallica fan, and that "iPod
One" contains such hits as “Kill them
all,” and, as a gift from his pal Dick Cheney,
“Master of Puppets.”
8 bar blues in the key
of G
The next G8 summit in
Toyako, Japan, from 7 to 9 July 2008, is
a critical opportunity for world leaders
to change the planet's course - to take
the motif of fate knocking on our door from
civilization's first movement and turn it
into a harmonic sweep of human triumph in
the 5th.
We're asking musicians
and fans at Rock in Rio to join in the chorus
calling for an energy [r]evoltion by demanding
a symphony of action in five movements:
A global treaty that
cuts greenhouse gas emissions by more than
half by 2050;
Renewable Energy supplying more than half
the world's power by 2050;
Laws that dramatically improve global energy
efficiency, from light bulbs to automobiles;
Powering the world with as little coal as
possible and no nuclear power;
An end to climate-endangering deforestation.
Logic isn't working
The logic behind the
need for an energy [r]evolution is impeccable.
But when it comes to the G8 leadership,
it doesn't seem to have been loud enough
to be heard or to lead to action. So it's
time to crank up the volume. To ELEVEN.
Music has been a powerful
motivator for Greenpeace over the years.
Our first voyage was funded by a concert
- a benefit that Joni Mitchell and Phil
Ochs threw in Vancouver, bringing along
surprise guest James Taylor. A rock compilation
album, Breakthrough, with artists Talking
Heads, Belinda Carlisle, REM, Pretenders,
Eurhythmics, Grateful Dead, Thompson Twins,
Bryan Adams, Peter Gabriel, Bruce Hornsby,
Dire Straits and Sting launched our first
office in the Soviet Union. Green Day and
Michelle Shocked have been helping promote
our efforts to convert the guitar industry
to sustainably-sourced wood.
U2 has taken action
with us against the Sellafield nuclear complex,
Gianna Nanini has been arrested with us
protesting nuclear weapons testing, Bryan
Adams has gone seat to seat in a stadium
in Tokyo with other Greenpeace volunteers
leafletting against whaling at one of his
concerts, and countless others have dedicated
royalties and time to singing out our message.
At Rock in Rio, we’ve
decided to enlist the help of a musical
revolutionary, Ludwig van Beethoven, in
trying to reach the G8 leaders with our
message.
From 1804 to 1808, Beethoven
wrote the score for one of the most stormy,
elaborate and magnificent compositions ever
to startle and inspire the world: the 5th
Symphony. (That’s the one that goes dit-dit-dit-DAH.)
Two centuries later, it is still having
an impact. Research suggests that the pattern
of notes in the 5th actually helps our brains
work better and promotes creative thinking.
During Rock in Rio in Lisbon, we are hoping
this inspiring piece of music will inspire
world leaders to take action against climate
change at the next G8 summit.
Never Mind the Bollocks
You can join the band.
If you’re a musician, or you know how to
play an instrument, or you know a musician,
or even if all you can do is hum or whistle,
you can help deliver the message. Join the
artists who will be performing the 5th by
clicking here.
We’re going to inspire
world leaders to deliver solutions, to make
history, to save the world – even if it
means playing the 5th Symphony on xylophones,
ukuleles, radiators, drain pipes, tubas,
slit gongs, kazoos, bubble organs, mbiras,
circular harps, didgeridoos, daxophones,
skatars, e-sitars, gravikords, air guitars,
sarussaphones, theremins and tsabounas.
Grab an instrument, grab a friend, record
the first 2 minutes and 40 seconds of the
5th and upload it to YouTube here. We’ll
edit the best together into a single piece
(you could be sharing a virtual stage with
a real rock star) and figure out some way
to get it heard by the G8 leaders.
Allegro di molto
Climate change is the
greatest threat our planet faces today,
and it has primarily been caused by the
G8 countries: Canada, France, Germany, Japan,
Italy, Russia, the UK and the US. Today,
G8 countries still emit more than 40% of
global greenhouse gas emissions, despite
having only 13% of the global population.
It is the responsibility of the G8 to lead
the orchestra and conduct a symphony for
change by making clear binding commitments
to fight climate change, protect the environment,
and save lives.
Millions of people around the world will
be watching them. With their music and words,
artists at Rock in Rio and other events
will make their own efforts to inspire world
leaders to tackle climate change.
You can help. Tell the
governments at the G8 summit to lead the
Energy Revolution. Tell them that you want
them to provide a global treaty that cuts
greenhouse gas emissions by more than half
by 2050, and deliver other solutions that
will save us from catastrophic global warming.
+ More
Philippine politicians
back Greenpeace Quit Coal call
28 May 2008 - Philippines
— One week into the Philippines leg of our
flagship the Rainbow Warrior’s Quit Coal
tour and senior politicians are lining up
to support our Quit Coal call to protect
the climate.
On day one, immediately
following our press conference in Albay
to explain the campaign, local Governor
Joey Sarte Salceda called for Albay to be
a coal-free zone. He said: “We believe there
is no place for coal in a world beset by
climate change and certainly there is no
place for coal in Albay.” He called on all
developed countries to reject coal.
A few days later the
Warrior and crew were outside Pagbilao coal-fired
power plant, blockading shipments of coal.
That unleashed a media frenzy, with the
front pages of the biggest papers in the
Philippines relaying our message that the
country needs to quit coal.
We stopped the protest
when Senator Zubiri announced in a communiqué
to the Rainbow Warrior: "I will file
a resolution in the Senate seeking a halt
in the construction of new coal fired power
plants in the country. In tandem will be
a strong Renewable Energy Bill that shall
allow us to shift towards a low carbon economy,
and away from dependence on fossil fuels,
particularly coal. Coal carries huge environmental,
health and social costs."
A great start. But then
today, we received another statement of
support when Senator Pia Juliana Cayetano,
who chairs the Senate Committee on Natural
Resources and is the principal sponsor of
the proposed renewable energy act.
Cayetano declared: "I
am one with Greenpeace in aiming for a coal-free
Philippines. The threat of climate change
demands a shift towards a sustainable, clean
and low carbon future. Government should
lay out concrete plans for implementing
clean energy solutions in the power sector."
A few hours later the
call was echoed by Congressman Lorenzo R.
Tañada III.
Coal is the most polluting
of all fossil fuels and the largest single
source of CO2 in the world. Currently, one-third
of all carbon dioxide emissions come from
burning coal. In the Philippines eight coal-fired
power stations produce 36% of the country’s
energy emissions, and the government plans
to build or expand nine power plants. Instead
the Philippines need to improve the efficiency
of its energy system, embrace renewable
energy and quit coal.
These political developments
and statements of support for our call to
Quit Coal show the impact our campaign is
having. The Albay declaration spelled out
an agenda, and the peaceful confrontation
at Pagbilao has started a process that could
lead to the Philippines quitting coal for
good. We’ll be keeping up the pressure in
the coming days and weeks – working to deliver
the energy [r]evolution that the world needs.
The Quit Coal tour is
just part of our global campaign against
coal. In recent months we’ve blocked coal
exports in New Zealand and power plant construction
in Holland and Germany. Last week, as our
activists in the Philippines were preparing
for action, a team in Israel were delivering
the message to their government. We’ve also
brought out a comprehensive report showing
that the industries talk of carbon sequestration
is just an ‘end of pipe’ dream used to justify
building more coal power plants that will
never be clean.
