SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
greenpeace
Top 2024 Victories for People and Planet to Inspire Next Year’s Activism
Across the globe, people took bold steps to care for the planet; 2024 showed us the strength of coming together with purpose and passion.
Dec 31, 2024
Dear changemakers, thank you for all that you’ve done this year.
Reflecting on 2024, we endured yet another year filled with climate catastrophes, political unrest, and international inequality. But even through these challenging times we can find hope in our collective actions and victories, no matter how big or small. Together, we can pave the way forward towards a better future.
Dear Earth, thank you for continuing to show up every day for us.
Across the globe, people took bold steps to care for the planet. 2024 showed us the strength of coming together with purpose and passion. These efforts may not solve every challenge overnight, but they are the building blocks of creating lasting change.
Dear Earth citizens, we invite you to take moments to appreciate living on this planet.
The journey that we are on is a long one, so friends, take care of yourself as we heal the world together. What lies ahead may not be easy, but as we continue to show up, make our voices heard, and hold polluters accountable we must not forget to take care of ourselves, our peers and our communities.
Dear all, we hope that you’ll join us on this journey towards a better future, taking care of our planet, ourselves, and each other.
With courage as our compass and optimism as our fuel, here are some of the top victories of 2024 for people and the planet to inspire us to keep taking action.
United Kingdom: Shell Backs Down in Lawsuit Against Greenpeace
In February 2023, Shell launched a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Greenpeace U.K. and Greenpeace International over a peaceful protest. But with our supporters behind us, we showed Shell their bullying tactics won’t intimidate us—and now they’ve backed down and agreed to settle out of court. People power works—this campaign was fought with the support of thousands of ordinary people against one of the richest companies in the world.
This legal battle might be over, but Big Oil’s dirty tricks aren’t going away. With Greenpeace facing further lawsuits around the world, we won’t stop campaigning until the fossil fuel industry stops drilling and starts paying for the damage it is causing to people and the planet.
Norway: Arctic Deep-sea Mining Plans Stopped
Huge win for the ocean as Arctic deep-sea mining plans are stopped in Norway! After more than a year of decisive campaign work and massive pressure from activists, scientists, and the international community, the Norwegian government has agreed to stop the first licensing round for deep-sea mining in Arctic waters for at least the rest of their term in office, until the next election.
This is a major and important environmental victory which shows that mobilization and people power works.
Indonesia: Measures to Regulate Labor Standards for Fishing Vessels Adopted
After years of discussions, rejections, objections, and negotiations involving governments, civil society organizations including Greenpeace Indonesia, and unions representing migrant fishers, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) finally adopted the Conservation and Management Measures (CMM) for Crew Labor Standards on December 3, 2024.
The WCPFC oversees fish population management, promotes sustainable fishing practices, and implements conservation measures. This decision underscores their commitment to ensure the well-being of crew in an industry that suffers from serious labour abuses.
Oceans: Deep-Sea Miners’ Efforts to Limit the Right to Protest at Sea Rejected
Over the last year, The Metals Company and its enablers have repeatedly tried to silence the global wave of resistance. After failing to get an injunction that stopped the action at sea, and unsuccessfully lobbying governments to limit protests around deep-sea mining vessels at the International Seabed Authority in March, the company pursued an appeal at the Amsterdam Court of Appeal to try and secure immunity against future Greenpeace protests at sea. But thanks to the incredible work of Greenpeace International’s legal unit, on November 12, 2024, the court ruled once more in our favor, reaffirming our right to peaceful protest at sea.
Brazil: Sawré Muybu Territory Officially Demarcated
On September 25, 2024, the Sawré Muybu territory in the Tapajós River Basin in the heart of the Amazon rainforest was officially demarcated. The Munduruku People have been fighting for the rights to a land that has always belonged to them but is threatened by mining, illegal logging, and infrastructure projects. This is a historic and profoundly symbolic victory not only for the Munduruku, but for all Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon and Brazil.
South Korea: Top Court Ruled the Country’s Carbon Neutrality Law as Unconstitutional
On 29 August 2024, South Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled the country’s carbon neutrality law as unconstitutional for violating citizen’s rights—making it the first ruling of its kind in Asia! The petition was filed in 2020 by over 200 plaintiffs, including young activists and even infants, and is Asia’s first climate court case targeting a country’s carbon neutrality commitments. This is a major climate win for future generations, and could potentially set a precedent in the region for other climate cases.
Australia: Woolworths and McDonald’s Commit to Going Deforestation-Free
Woolworths and McDonald’s in Australia announced their commitments to source deforestation-free beef. Woolworths will do so by the end of 2025 but McDonald’s will implement theirs by 2030 (Greenpeace Australia Pacific will continue to engage with McDonald’s to ensure they commit to taking deforestation off the menu—by 2025!). These two giant corporations are some of Australia’s biggest retailers and major buyers of Australian beef.
This is a major example of people power as Greenpeace Australia Pacific supporters had sent the big corporations thousands of emails, demanding they go deforestation-free.
Global: Breakthrough for Global Tax Justice
In a big win for global tax justice, a favourable blueprint for a UN Tax Convention that will pave the way for a fair and efficient global tax system was laid out in August. An inclusive tax cooperation system will shift power from a few rich OECD countries to the UN where every country has a vote and help governments around the world recover the billions lost to tax dodging by multinational corporations and the ultra-rich. There is still much to do to keep up the pressure as negotiations will continue until 2027.
South Africa: Shell Loses Appeal in Case Halting Plans for Oil and Gas Exploration
Big win against Shell in South Africa! After protests by the community and fishers, Shell loses its appeal against the landmark decision in 2022 which ruled against their plans to conduct oil and gas exploration off the Wild Coast of South Africa. The court says Shell failed to properly inform and consult affected communities, taking into account community rights and environmental harm. Unfortunately, the fight is not yet over as the court has left the door open for Shell’s application to renew its exploration right. Together with allies and the community, Greenpeace Africa is resolute in continuing to fight to stop Big Oil from exploiting the planet for its own profit.
Papua: Major Land Rights Win for Indigenous Peoples
On June 6, 4,000 Indigenous Papuans finally received legal recognition of customary rights over 97,411 hectares of tropical rainforests in South Sorong Regency. The newly recognised Indigenous lands of the Knasaimos Peoples spans an area almost the size of Hong Kong.
As with many Indigenous communities across Tanah Papua (the western half of New Guinea, also known internationally as West Papua), the Knasaimos Peoples have been fighting for decades to protect their customary lands from exploitation by external interests such as logging and plantation companies. This ruling finally provides legal recognition of their rights to the land, forests, water, and other natural resources that are their ancestral heritage.
Oceans: World’s Highest Oceans Court Ruling to Protect Our Oceans
In a historic Advisory Opinion, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the world’s highest oceans court, found that greenhouse gas emissions are a form of marine pollution and countries are obligated to reduce emissions for the sake of our oceans. The ruling is a huge victory in the protection and preservation of the marine environment.
Europe: European Nature Restoration Law Passed
The European Nature Restoration Law was passed and has come into effect! This law is the most important piece of environmental legislation in Europe in decades, aiming to restore and protect European biodiversity hotspots. It imposes unprecedented legally binding obligations onto E.U. Member States to restore protected nature reserves, peatlands, and dwindling bird and pollinator populations, and protect urban nature amongst others. This is a huge win for the nature movement in Europe!
Switzerland: Historic Court Win Confirms That Climate Protection Is a Human Right
The Association of Senior Women for Climate Protection Switzerland, also known as the KlimaSeniorinnen, took action against their country, Switzerland, for violating the seniors’ human rights by failing to set sufficient climate targets. On April 9, they received the landmark decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), achieving a historic victory for all generations. The ruling is an iconic moment for climate justice globally, confirming that climate protection is a human right.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Anti-Whaling Activist Paul Watson Freed After Denmark Rejects Japan's Extradition Request
"My arrest has focused international attention on Japan's continuing illegal whaling operations and their intent to go back to the Southern Ocean," said Watson. "So, in fact, these five months have been an extension of the campaign."
Dec 17, 2024
The prominent anti-whaling activist Paul Watson was released Tuesday from prison in Greenland after Danish officials rejected a request by Japan to extradite him.
Watson was arrested in Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, in July due to a warrant issued by Japan in 2012, which alleged that Watson had interfered with a Japanese whaling vessel and caused injury to a crew member in 2010, according to The New York Times. He could have faced up to 15 years in jail if convicted.
"I am certainly relieved as this means I get to see my two little boys. That's really been my only concern this entire time. I understand the risks of what we do and sometimes you get arrested—although I am proud of the fact that I have never been convicted of a crime," Watson told the Guardian. Watson's two sons are aged three and eight.
To the outlet AFP, he said: "My arrest has focused international attention on Japan's continuing illegal whaling operations and their intent to go back to the Southern Ocean... So, in fact, these five months have been an extension of the campaign."
Watson, a Canadian American who co-founded Greenpeace and founded Sea Shepherd—a group that uses direct action to protect marine wildlife and oceans—was traveling in July with 25 volunteers on a mission to the North Pacific for the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF), which he started after leaving Sea Shepherd in 2022. When the vessel arrived in Nuuk, Greenland to refuel, Danish police arrested him.
The CPWF denounced the surprise arrest, which came as Watson planned to intercept a new Japanese factory whaling ship.
Watson was also featured in the Animal Planet television show Whale Wars that ran from 2008 until 2015, in which he led efforts to disrupt Japanese whaling on the high seas.
Japan has a long, complicated history with whaling. Whale meat was seen as an important protein for the country after World War II. Japan joined the International Whaling Commission, an international body that placed a moratorium on commercial whaling in the 1980s, in 1951. In 2019, Japan left the body and began catching whales commercially the same year, according to the International Whaling Commission.
In 2014, the International Court of Justice ruled against Japan in a case involving charges that Japan was using a scientific research program as a front for a commercial whaling venture in the Antarctic.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Ecological Disaster Feared After Pair of Russian Oil Tankers Sink
“Another ship is going down. Holy shit!” said a sailor from a nearby boat who was filming the incident in the Black Sea's Kirch strait.
Dec 15, 2024
A pair of Russian oil vessels on Sunday sunk in the Black Sea, according to reports, causing what Russian officials termed an "oil spill emergency" and touching off fears of an ecological disaster.
"Today two tankers, Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239, were damaged due to a storm in the waters of the Black Sea," said the Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport in a statement. "There are 15 people on board of one ship and 14 people on the other. The damage caused an oil spill emergency."
It was subsequently reported that one of the vessels, and later the second, had sunk in the violent seas of the Kirch strait, which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov. One person was reportedly killed, according to Russian officials, and an estimated 4,300 tonnes of oil product was on each vessel, though the amount spilled was not immediately known.
Footage taken by nearby ships captured portions of the disaster as it unfolded:
“Another ship is going down. Holy shit!” said a sailor from a nearby boat as the filming took place.
Paul Johnston, head of Greenpeace Research Laboratories at the University of Exeter in the U.K., warned of possible grave consequences from the maritime disaster.
"Any oil or petrochemical spill in these waters has the potential to be serious," Johnston said. "It is likely to be driven by prevailing wind and currents (moving now to the North-East) and in the current weather conditions is likely to be extremely difficult to contain. If it is driven ashore, then it will cause fouling of the shoreline which will be extremely difficult to clean up."
Russian outlets reported the oil product on board at least one of the vessels was mazut, a viscous and heavy fuel oil primarily used as a fuel oil in power plants, for shipping, or other industries.
"Any environmental impact will depend on the type of oil spilled," added Johnston. "Heavy residual fuel oils will tend to cause more visible damage than refined fractions and marine gas oil which will tend to disperse and break up quite rapidly."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular