ACT

IDEAL – ACT 21

Canaries made of ice

The most visible impact of climate change is the disappearing Arctic sea ice. Melting sea ice creates an evil feed-in loop, further accelerating the melting and climate change itself.

How does it work?

Warmed air

Pool

Active layer

Permafrost layer

Unfrozen layer Lake

1

Methane hydrate

2

Ocean

Methane released to atmosphere

Gorgeous Arctic

As sea ice recedes, the face of the Arctic is changing: wildlife lose their home, climate change is kicked up a notch, sea channels are opened up increasing shipping and the associated dangers of oil spills, and oil companies begin to jostle over the right to exploit for oil and gas. Let’s take a moment to enjoy the beauty of the Arctic today, so that we can build up our movement to preserve it for tomorrow. Step One: As the white reflective surface of ice melts there is less white space to reflect the sun’s rays and so the darker ocean surface ends up absorbing more heat, meaning warmer seas and more ice melting.

Step Two: The warmer seas and climate change are melting Arctic permafrost (frozen soil). Underneath are massive pockets of methane gas which are released when the permafrost melts. Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas,

thus intensifying climate change.

“The campaign to stop Arctic oil drilling is one of the defining environmental battles of our age” –Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace International

IDEAL – ACT 23

The first oil company to sneak into the Arctic was Cairn Energy, a small British exploration company which set up an oil rig nearly 200 km off the coast of Greenland in the freezing waters of the Davis Strait.

As soon as the oil rig was up Greenpeace sprung into action.

This summer we sent team after team of activists, including our own international executive director Kumi Naidoo, to scale the oil rig, the Leiv Eriksson. They got to the top even though Cairn fired freezing water cannons at them. Some teams even managed to stop the rig’s operations for several days at a stretch. We were asking the company to immediately halt the drilling and leave the Arctic. And also, crucially, to publish its oil spill response plan which it resisted for months.

Although all our brave activists ended up drenched, and some arrested and detained in jail for a few weeks, we won the key battle. Our peaceful direct action and the support of more than 100,000 people who signed petitions, forced Cairn to make public its oil spill response plan and it wasn’t pretty.

During the long, winter months, Cairn admitted it would have to abort any clean up operation, and for the rest of the year clean up operations would be largely ineffective. They said it would be better to simply let beaches recover over time.

A letter to Kumi from his daughter

(Extracted)

Dear Dad, As my friends and flatmates go to visit their fathers on father’s day, I am both proud and saddened to know that you are being held in custody in Greenland after standing up against the madness of Arctic oil drilling. Watching the videos of you braving the freezing water cannons to scale that massive Arctic oil rig, I can truthfully say that I will spend this father's day being proud to be your daughter.

There are many reasons why I am glad you are my father. First, you made sure that as a child I became aware of issues of social, economic, gender and environmental justice. It has never been more to clear to me that the Earth is a fragile place that needs protection, and if it continues to be exploited in ways such as is currently being done in the Arctic, it will not be long before there is nothing left. It seems completely crazy that the melting ice may spur a whole new oil rush there in the Arctic. It is clear to me, and all the many Greenpeace supporters across the world who are behind you, that brave and direct action like yours is the only hope we have that sanity may prevail over madness.

Lots of love, Naomi

The Arctic is one of the most pristine, fragile and vulnerable ecosystems in the world – home to wildlife that includes almost all of the world’s Narwhal whale population as well as blue whales, sea bird colonies and polar bears. The world’s oil giants are watching Cairn’s rigs with great interest. If it strikes oil, although to date most of its exploration wells have shown up dry if it strikes oil Exxon, Chevron and the other big oil companies (which have already bought up Greenland licenses to exploit for oil) will begin drilling in the area and the Arctic oil rush will be on. We can’t let that happen. Are you with us?

Why not drill for oil in the Arctic?

Oil spills are devastating at the best of times, but an accident in the Arctic would be many times worse. The sea ice, extreme weather, and remote location would mean that it would be almost impossible to clean up.

Kao Yu-fen is an oceans campaigner and oceans defender in our Taiwan office, and as we go to press she is involved in a court case because she stood up to the Taiwan government.