Highlights
– On December 3, 2007, the United Nations Climate Change Conference began in Bali, Indonesia
– Greenpeace and other similar organizations increased their campaigns ahead of the conference to draw attention to the cause
– We believe that Greenpeace activities/events will continue through the end of the conference and will remain relatively non-violent in nature
On December 3, 2007, the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference began in Bali, Indonesia with delegates from approximately 190 nations in attendance. A key goal of the two-week conference, which will continue through December 14, 2007, is to start negotiations to develop a new agreement that will replace the Kyoto Protocol, which is set to expire in 2012. The participating diplomats will attempt to outline an agenda and establish a deadline for these talks, in hopes of reaching an agreement before 2009, to ensure enough time to implement changes and other measures before the Kyoto Protocol expires.
The environmental group Greenpeace is one of many similar organizations that have increased their campaigns ahead of and during the conference in an effort to persuade world diplomats that far-reaching measures need to be implemented immediately in order to combat and reverse global warming.
As such, the group has conducted actions leading up to the conference, and has scheduled other events to take place throughout the next two-weeks. We believe that actions will continue through the end of the conference and will remain relatively non-violent, but disruptive, similar to previous events staged by the organization.
Greenpeace Blockades Indonesian Port
In the run up to the Bali conference, activists from Greenpeace attempted to block an Indonesian ship carrying 30,000 tons of palm oil from transporting its cargo to India in mid-November 2007, in a move designed to protest the destruction of the rainforest. According to the group, when oil palms are planted, the forest is cleared by fires that release millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the air.
During the action, the Greenpeace ship, the Rainbow Warrior, anchored itself next to an Indonesian ship at Dumai port on Sumatra Island. The Indonesian ship was eventually able to force its way out of the port. The owner of the tanker said that the vessel had not been completely blocked, while Greenpeace maintained that tugs had pushed the Rainbow Warrior out of the way.
Actions During the UN Conference
On the first day of the UN climate conference, activists from Greenpeace and other similar organizations placed a 6.7-meter high thermometer outside the Bali International Convention Center to highlight the point that the world temperature is increasing. A message on the thermometer read: “Don’t cook the climate!”
Also on December 3, 2007, Greenpeace UK posted a statement on their website claiming that activists from the organization were shot at, “while they climbed the cooling tower and loading crane of a coal-fired power station to hang a banner reading ‘coal kills climate.’ According to the report, security personnel at the coal power plant in Jepara, Central Java, fired the gunshots, and all of the involved activists were later arrested. While local authorities have not confirmed the report, Greenpeace has previously engaged in similar actions, designed to draw significant attention to their cause.
In November 2007, Greenpeace activists stormed an Australian power plant in New South Wales and chained themselves to the coal-feed conveyor belt. The protesters also painted “coal kills” on the roof of the plant and hung a banner stating, “climate change starts here.” While the organizers maintained that the stunt was non-violent, 15 activists were arrested following the incident, which forced the majority of employees to be evacuated from the site.
Further Actions Anticipated
It is likely that Greenpeace activists will stage similar events throughout the two-week conference for publicity purposes and to place pressure on the attending diplomats to take significant action to reverse global climate change. While previous events involving activists infiltrating sites have not disrupted operations at the plants, (for example in the Australia incident, the plant’s operators indicated that power generation was not affected by the protesters), the potential exists for future stunts to negatively impact a targeted site’s production capabilities.
It is likely that a significant portion of future Greenpeace actions coinciding with the UN climate conference will be acts of civil disobedience that remain relatively non-violent in nature, similar to earlier events staged by the group.
There are also larger Greenpeace protests/events that are scheduled to take place during the remainder of the climate conference, including
– On December 7, 2007, the group’s ship, the Rainbow Warrior, will dock in Bali with a, “flotilla of 80 small boats around it,” according to a Greenpeace spokeswoman.
– On December 8, 2007, Greenpeace will hold a “Global Day of Action on Climate Change,” which will include a rally in the Bali capital of Denpasar. Solidarity protests are also scheduled to take place in Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, France, Turkey, the Philippines, the United States, and Canada.
As such, we anticipate increased global environmental activist events will continue during the two-week conference.
