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Greenpeace News

27 Nov 2023

Environmentalists Ask Court to Block Development of Three North Sea Fields

© Igor Hotinsky / Adobe Stock

Environmental groups on Tuesday will ask a Norwegian court to block the development of three North Sea oil and gas fields, citing insufficient assessment of global climate impact from future petroleum use.The lawsuit filed by Greenpeace and its partner Nature and Youth concerns the Equinor-operated Breidablikk and Aker BP's Yggdrasil and Tyrving fields, which hold combined reserves of some 875 million barrels of oil equivalent.The two NGOs in 2020 lost a case against Arctic drilling at Norway's top court…

09 Nov 2023

Shell Sues Greenpeace for Boarding Penguins FPSO While in Transit

©Greenpece

Shell is suing Greenpeace for $2.1 million in damages after the environmental group's activists boarded the company's oil production vessel in transit at sea this year, according to Greenpeace and a document seen by Reuters.The British oil and gas major filed the claim in London's High Court. Greenpeace activists boarded the vessel in January near the Canary Islands off the Atlantic coast of northern Africa to protest oil drilling and traveled on it as far as Norway.In an email to Reuters…

18 Sep 2023

New FSRU Arrives in France as Greenpeace Blocks Port

© Jean Nicholas Guillo / Greenpeace

A new LNG floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) arrived in western France on Monday morning, a TotalEnergies' spokesperson said, as activist group Greenpeace tried to prevent it from entering port.Demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Europe has grown in the wake of the war in Ukraine, with France relying on its four LNG terminals to replace Russian gas imports and help supply neighbors like Germany.The Cape Ann FSRU arrived at Le Havre port on Monday morning, LSEG ship tracking data showed.However, environmental group Greenpeace blocked the tanker's course in protest at what they sa

03 Aug 2023

Canada's TMC to Apply for Seabed Mining Licence in 2024

© Velizar Gordeev / Adobe Stock

Canada's The Metals Company (TMC) aims to apply next year for a licence to start mining in the Pacific Ocean, with production expected to get underway by as early as the fourth quarter of 2025, it said in a statement.TMC has been at the forefront of efforts to begin extracting polymetallic nodules from the ocean floor, a nascent industry that could boost supplies of metals considered vital to the global energy transition, including nickel and cobalt.Environmental campaigners warn…

20 Jun 2023

Norway Moves to Open Its Waters to Deep-sea Mining

© idea_studio / Adobe Stock

The Norwegian government on Tuesday proposed opening its waters to deep-sea mining despite opposition from green campaigners and some countries, as it seeks to shift from a reliance on hydrocarbons to new sources of economic activity.Norway, whose vast oil and gas reserves made it one of the world's wealthiest countries, has taken a leading role in the global race to mine the ocean floor for metals that are in high demand as countries transition away from fossil fuels."We need minerals to succeed with the green transition…

03 Apr 2023

UN to Start Taking Deep-sea Mining Applications This July

File photo. Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2019 Southeastern U.S. Deep-sea Exploration.

The International Seabed Authority will start accepting applications in July from companies that want to mine the ocean's floor, a decision that came after the U.N. body spent the past two weeks debating standards for the new and controversial practice.Deep-sea mining would extract cobalt, copper, nickel, and manganese - key battery materials - from potato-sized rocks called "polymetallic nodules" on the ocean's floor at depths of 4 to 6 km (2.5 to 4 miles). They are abundant…

08 Feb 2023

Greenpeace Says Shell Threatens Protestors Occupying FPSO with "Jail Time, Fines"

More Greenpeace activists board Shell FPSO ©Greenpece

Shell has reportedly threatened legal action against Greenpeace activists who last week boarded a heavy load carrier carrying Shell's Penguins FPSO, destined for deployment in the UK North Sea.Last Tuesday, four activists climbed aboard the Boskalis' White Marlin vessel carrying the cylindrical FPSO, in the Atlantic Ocean north of the Canary Islands, calling for Shell to "Stop Drilling. Start Paying." Read more here.According to Greenpeace, Shell, late on Friday, Feb 3, hit the…

06 Feb 2023

Brazil Scuttles Decommissioned Aircraft Carrier Despite Environmental Concerns

Sao Paulo (File photo: Brazilian Navy)

Brazil sank a decommissioned aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean off its northeast coast, the Brazilian Navy said, despite warnings from environmentalists that the rusting 1960s French-built ship would pollute the sea and the marine food chain.The 32,000-tonne carrier had been floating offshore for three months since Turkey refused it entry to be scrapped there because it was an environmental hazard and the ship was towed back to Brazil.The carrier was scuttled in a "planned and controlled sinking" late on Friday…

01 Feb 2023

Greenpeace Activists Board Heavy-lift Vessel Carrying Shell's Penguins FPSO

Credit: Greenpeace

Four Greenpeace activists on Tuesday boarded the heavy transportation vessel carrying Shell's Penguins FPSO aboard, calling on the oil major to "Stop Drilling. Start Paying."Six Greenpeace International activists attempted, and four managed to board Boskalis' White Marlin vessel in the Atlantic Ocean north of the Canary Islands. The heavy transportation vessel is carrying the recently delivered 34,000t Penguins FPSO, which is planned to ultimately be deployed northeast of the Shetland Islands in the North Sea for the Penguins field project.

29 Jan 2023

Russian Antarctic Vessel Docks in South Africa as Green Groups Protest

A Russian research vessel which has been prospecting for oil and natural gas in the Antarctic docked in South Africa on Saturday following protests by green campaigners who say its operations in the region violate a treaty banning mineral exploration.Several members of the Extinction Rebellion environmental group held banners reading "Hands off Antarctica" as the polar explorer ship Akademik Alexander Karpinsky arrived as scheduled in Cape Town's port during the morning.Earlier this week, several dozen protesters from Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion demonstrated at the port, saying the ship's seismic surveys in the Antarctic were a threat to marine life in the area and violated a 1958 international agreement.A 1998 amendment to the 55-nation Antarctic Treaty…

08 Sep 2022

Protestors Block Unloading of Russian LNG at Swedish Port

(Photo: Greenpeace)

Greenpeace said it prevented on Thursday a tanker from unloading Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) at Finnish state-owned Gasum's terminal in Nynashamn on Sweden's east coast.The environmental campaigning network in a statement called on the Swedish government to immediately stop the import of Russian fossil LNG.It said a Greenpeace vessel and activists in kayaks outside the loading dock had prevented the LNG tanker Coral Energy from docking, while other activists had climbed into the cranes used to unload the gas."The fact Russian fossil gas is still allowed to flow into Sweden…

16 May 2022

Activists Block Greek Tanker with Russian Cargo from Entering UK Port

Greenpeace protesters have blocked the entry of a Greek tanker into a southern English port due to its Russian fuel cargo with police making arrests, the green group said on Monday.Britain and the EU have separately banned Russian-flagged vessels from their ports, with exemptions, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in what the Kremlin describes as a "special military operation."The UK has said it will phase out imports of Russian oil by the end of the year, which has meant that foreign-flagged vessels carrying Russian cargoes are still able to call at ports for the time being.Greenpeace said 12 activists occupied a jetty on Sunday evening in Navigator Terminals' Thames site in Essex…

26 Apr 2022

Norway Arrests Activists Blocking Tanker from Unloading Russian Oil

 Greenpeace activist Andreas Randoy - Credit: Greenpeace - Free Use License

Norwegian police said they had arrested 20 Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion campaigners who on Monday blocked a tanker from delivering Russian oil to an Exxon Mobil terminal.In a protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, activists had fastened their red rubber dinghy to the Ust Luga's anchor chain, Greenpeace said, as they sought to prevent it offloading an estimated 95,000 tonnes of oil."Oil is not only at the root of the climate crisis, but also of wars and conflicts.

25 Apr 2022

Greenpeace Blocks Ust Luga Tanker from Delivering Russian Oil to Norway

Credit: Greenpeace

Greenpeace activists sought to block a tanker on Monday from delivering Russian oil to Norway, chaining themselves to the vessel in a protest against the war in Ukraine, the advocacy group said.The Ust Luga product tanker is currently anchored outside Exxon Mobil's Slagen oil terminal some 70 km (43 miles) south of the capital Oslo, according to vessel tracker Marine Traffic.Activists arriving in a small boat chained themselves to the tanker's anchor chain as they sought to prevent the offloading of a cargo estimated at 95…

21 Mar 2022

Greenpeace Protests Against Ships Carrying Russian Fossil Fuels

© Will Rose / Greenpeace

Greenpeace activists have taken to the sea to protest against tankers carrying Russian fossil fuels to Europe.Traveling in rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIB), kayaks and as swimmers, protesters from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Netherlands and Germany on Sunday went in front of supertankers Waikiki and SFC Baltica in the Baltic Sea, displaying banners with “Oil Fuels War” as Greenpeace calls on Europe to reject and ban Russian fossil fuel imports to weaken the attack on Ukraine.Mads Flarup Christensen…

26 Nov 2021

Gold Rush Draws Hundreds of Dredging Rafts to Amazon Tributary

© Petty / Adobe Stock

Hundreds of dredging rafts operated by illegal miners have gathered in a gold rush on the Madeira River, a major tributary of the Amazon, floating hundreds of miles as state and federal authorities dispute who is responsible for stopping them.The flotilla of rafts equipped with pumps are moored together in lines that nearly stretch across the vast Madeira, and a Reuters witness spotted plumes of exhaust indicating they are vacuuming the riverbed for gold."We counted no less than 300 rafts.

09 Nov 2021

Greenpeace Settles Charges After Blocking Port of Houston in 2019

(Photo: Greenpeace)

Environmental activists who shut the largest U.S. energy export port for a day to protest climate change agreed to pay police, fire and court costs to settle state criminal charges, officials said on Friday.Greenpeace members halted shipping in September 2019 by dangling on ropes from a bridge over the Houston Ship Channel to bring attention to climate change concerns during a presidential debate in the city.Felony charges of disrupting critical energy infrastructure were later dismissed by a Houston grand jury.

04 Oct 2021

Activists Blockade Shell Refinery in Port of Rotterdam

© Marten van Dijl / Greenpeace

Dozens of Greenpeace activists in Rotterdam port used a ship, buoys and a small flotilla of kayaks on Monday to block traffic around Shell’s Pernis refinery, Europe’s largest, as part of a campaign seeking a ban on fossil fuel advertising.Police ended the blockade after several hours and the port’s authority said economic disruption to the wider harbor was minimal.The action comes as Greenpeace and more than 20 other environmental groups began seeking a million signatures for a European Union-wide ban on adverts and sponsorships by oil and gas companies…

28 Apr 2021

What Happens When There Is an Oil Spill at Sea?

(File photo: U.S. Coast Guard)

Clean-up crews worked on Wednesday to contain an oil spill in the Yellow Sea near the Chinese port city of Qingdao, a day after a tanker carrying around a million barrels of bitumen mix collided with a bulk vessel.While a preliminary study by Chinese maritime officials estimated about 500 tonnes (3,420 barrels) of oil had been spilled, it was still unclear as to the how much had been emptied into the sea.Here are some facts about oil spills and their impact on the environment.Types of spillsSpills typically involve two forms of oils…

06 Apr 2021

Greenpeace Stages Pacific Ocean Protest Against Deep-sea Mining

© Marten van Dijl / Greenpeace

Greenpeace protested against deep-sea mining in the Pacific on Monday, with the environmental organization’s Rainbow Warrior boat trailing a ship doing research for DeepGreen, a company which plans to mine the seabed for battery metals.Greenpeace activists were pictured in rubber dinghies holding banners reading “Stop Deep Sea Mining!”, with the Maersk Launcher, a ship chartered by DeepGreen, in the background.The protest took place 900 nautical miles (1,036 miles) off Mexico’s western coast…

12 Jan 2021

Norway Eyes Sea Change in Deep Dive for Metals Instead of Oil

An offshore platform in Norway - Credit:Jone Gundersen/AdobeStock

Norway's oil and gas reserves have made it one of the world's wealthiest countries but its dreams for deep-sea discovery now center on something different.This time, Oslo is looking for a leading role in mining copper, zinc, and other metals found on the seabed and in hot demand in green technologies.Norway could license companies for deep-sea mining as early as 2023, its oil and energy ministry told Reuters, potentially placing it among the first countries to harvest seabed metals for electric vehicle batteries…

17 Sep 2020

Arctic Sea Ice Lows Mark a New Polar Climate Regime

© Kertu / Adobe Stock

At the edge of the ice blanketing part of the Arctic Ocean, the ice looked sickly. Where thick sheets of ice once sat atop the water, now a layer of soft, spongey slush slid and bobbed atop the waves.From the deck of a research ship under a bright, clear sky, “ice pilot” Paul Ruzycki mused over how quickly the region was changing since he began helping ships spot and navigate between icebergs in 1996.“Not so long ago, I heard that we had 100 years before the Arctic would be ice free in the summer,” he said. “Then I heard 75 years, 25 years, and just recently I heard 15 years.

11 Sep 2020

Greenpeace Blocks Oil Tanker from Delivering Oil to Refinery in Sweden

Credit: Greenpeace

Greenpeace's flagship Rainbow Warrior blocked a tanker on Thursday from delivering crude oil from Norway to Sweden's Lysekil refinery in a protest against plans to expand it, the advocacy group said.The 850-tonne sailboat decorated in rainbow colors dropped anchor in a fjord near the installation owned by Sweden's largest refiner Preem to block passage for the Grena Knutsen carrying crude from Norway's Gullfaks oilfield."We will not let any crude oil to the refinery until Preem stops its plans to expand," said Greenpeace member Gustav Martner during a live feed from Rainbow Warrior as it lower