15 September 2008 -
Iskenderun, Turkey — Four climbers from
our ship the Rainbow Warrior were arrested
yesterday, in Turkey, after they occupied
a giant coal loading platform to prevent
a delivery of coal to the giant Sugozo coal-fired
power station, one of the
largest emitters of greenhouse gases in
the world. After 11 hours blocking coal
coming off the “Global Winner” (“Global
Warmer” more like), a South African cargo
ship, they were forced down by police using
high-pressure water hoses. The four climbers
and their support team have now been released
and are facing the prospect of heavy fines
for their actions.
The Sugozu coal power
plant emits some 10 million tonnes of carbon
dioxide (CO2) a year (three times as much
as Iceland), which makes it the fourth largest
single emitter of greenhouse gases in the
world, in terms of power plants.
The action was designed
to send a message to the Turkish state authority
EMRA (Energy Market Regulatory Authority)
- which is responsible for licensing coal
power plants. Launching Greenpeace Turkey’s
“Quit Coal” campaign, the action is just
the beginning of our work to stop the construction
of 40 new coal fired power plants currently
planned in Turkey. Insanely, almost all
of them will rely on imported coal in a
country where wind and solar alone could
easily exceed current electricity demand.
Turkey is already an
international disgrace when it comes to
increasing greenhouse gas emissions, and
has failed to even ratify the Kyoto Protocol.
Hilal Atici, our Greenpeace
Mediterranean Coal Campaigner says “The
Isken action is just the beginning – we
will not stop until our government wakes
up and quits coal.”
The Greenpeace Mediterranean
Executive Director has requested a meeting
with EMRA this week to press our case. He
will be outside their head offices in Ankara
ensuring that they listen to our very simple
demand “No new coal in Turkey - Embrace
an energy revolution.” The ship is now en-route
to Istanbul.
Turkey is the second
country on Greenpeace’s European “Quit Coal”
ship tour – we are taking the message directly
to governments in the run-up to crucial
UN climate negotiations in Poznan, Poland
this December. Greenhouse gas emission reduction
targets for post 2012 need to be set and
the final agreement on these will be made
in Copenhagen in 2009. The period leading
up to this is really "make of break"
for the climate. The message is pretty clear
– in order to have any meaningful deal to
save the climate, the world has to quit
coal - the worst polluter of all fossil
fuels.
+ More
Rainbow Warrior raises
a reaction for the climate in Israel
09 September 2008 -
Ashkelon, Israel — The Israeli police, supported
by the navy, arrested the captain of the
Rainbow Warrior - together with 14 Greenpeace
activists, the photographer and the videographer
- for passing on the message to “Quit Coal”.
Activists had been painting the message,
in English and Hebrew, on a ship importing
coal to the Ashkelon power plant in Israel.
Police boarded the Rainbow Warrior before
we had even started the painting.
Our Captain, Daniel
Rizotti, was arrested by Israeli police.
The officers, arriving on a military ship
and carrying machine guns, came on board
and demanded that he sail back to Ashdod,
the port we had left that morning. So, still
waiting for the release of our activists,
we sailed back.
The protest marked the
launch of our “Quit Coal: Save the Climate”
tour through the Mediterranean and Europe.
Israel is only the beginning of our journey;
we’re visiting 11 countries en route to
Poland, where crucial UN climate negotiations
continue this December.
Why “Quit Coal”?
Because, when it comes to climate change,
coal is by far the worst offender. Yet governments
seem to be missing the message, approving
plans for hundreds of new coal-fired plants.
If they don’t wake up to the urgent need
to stop this, then by 2030 carbon emissions
coming from coal will have increased by
some 60 percent. We’re here to sound the
alarm.
Our action in Israel
was a wake-up call to the government to
abandon its plans for a new coal plant in
Ashkelon. Despite thousands of Israelis
voicing their opposition to this unnecessary
and dirty plant, the government has approved
plans anyway. But it’s not too late! Greenpeace
is urging all Israelis - whether at home
or abroad - to lodge a complaint.
Sunny Solution
Israel is very, very sunny. So it’s pretty
crazy that Israel is not embracing this
solar potential and instead continues to
rely on imported coal (not to mention the
CO2 emissions of shipping the coal to Israel
from Colombia, Indonesia and Australia).
Israel is getting some things right – it
has built the world’s first solar thermal
plant, and it’s selling that technology
worldwide. Something to celebrate indeed.
But more is needed for Israel to be guaranteed
a brighter future.
The world must quit
its addiction to coal; luckily we have the
cure. Greenpeace's Energy [R]evolution scenario
shows how renewable energy, combined with
greater energy efficiency, can cut global
CO2 emissions by 50%, and deliver half the
world's energy needs by 2050.
Happily, we now have
our captain, activists, media team, inflatables
and cameras back on board. We’ve been deported
from Israel, but now we’re heading for Turkey
– and the next stage of our “Quit Coal”
tour.
