Greenpeace

Greenpeace is one of the world's largest environmental organizations. The headquarters of Greenpeace International are in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. It is formally allied with 350.org.

• Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director, Greenpeace International
• Gerd Leipold, former Executive Director, Greenpeace International

Directors

The directors of Greenpeace International, as of October 2009, are:

• Lalita Ramdas
• Ayesha Imam
• Dimitrios Vassilakis
• Fabio Feldmann
• Koon-Chung Chan
• Steve Francis
• Irmi Mussack

Former directors

• Adam Werbach, Satchi & Satchi

Former Related Greenpeace Personnel and Directors

• Donald K. Ross, Greenpeace USA chair

History

Greenpeace was founded in 1971 following a group of activists sailing an old fishing boat, the Phyllis Cormack, from Vancouver towards the island of Amchitka, Alaska in protest against proposed US underground nuclear testing. [1]

Current campaigns

Greenpeace focuses its activities on:

• nuclear weapons
• nuclear energy
• the oceans - fisheries issues, whaling and pollution
• toxic chemicals
• forests
• genetic engineering
• climate change
• trade rules
• coal

[2]

Resources

• Greenpeace operates a fleet of several ocean-going ships used in protest and awareness raising

Funding and expenditures

"... Greenpeace does not seek or accept funding from governments, corporations or political parties or any other source that could compromise its aims and objectives, its independence or its integrity. Greenpeace relies wholly upon the voluntary donations of individual supporters and on grant support from foundations." [3]

They also provide a breakdown of their expenditure and income (about $350m in 2003 for Greenpeace international and all regional subsidiaries) [4]

Though there does not seem to be any information about the foundations that give them money on their website, the financial breakdown from 2001 for Greenpeace international alone indicates that 118m of 143m came from individuals with 3.9m from foundations, 4.2m from major donors and 4.4m other income. 12.5m was left in legacies and bequests, so foundations constitute a relatively small proportion of income, assuming that the same is roughly true of the subsidiaries.

Greenpeace has referred to "independent foundations" [5]. Greenpeace fundraising policies from 1998 state that Greenpeace screens all major donations in order ensure it does not receive unwanted donations. Donations from foundations which are funded by political parties or receive most of their funding from governments or intergovernmental organisations are rejected. Foundation donations are also rejected if the foundations attach unreasonable conditions, restrictions or constraints on Greenpeace activities or if the donation would compromise the independence and aims of Greenpeace.[6]

Books

• Bob Hunter, Warriors of the Rainbow: A Chronicle of the Greenpeace Movement, Henry Holt & Company, October, 1979, ISBN 0030437415
• David McTaggart, Greenpeace III: Journey into the bomb, Collins, 1978. ISBN 0002118858
• John May and Michael Brown, The Greenpeace Story, Dk Publishing*inc ISBN 086318328X
• Mark Warford (ed), Greenpeace Witness: Twenty-Five Years on the Environmental Front Line, Andre Deutsch, August 1, 1997. ISBN 0233990240

Contact details

Greenpeace International
Ottho Heldringstraat 5
1066 AZ Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 20 7182000
Fax: +31 20 5148151
Email: supporter.services AT int.greenpeace.org
Web: http://www.greenpeace.org/international
Web: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/about/worldwide Websites of national/regional offices

Articles and resources

• Jeffrey St. Clair, The Post-Modern Protest Blues, Designer Protests and Vanity Arrests in DC, CounterPunch, April 12, 2013.
• John Stauber, The Progressive Movement is a PR Front for Rich Democrats, March 15, 2013, CounterPunch.

Related SourceWatch articles

• 99% Spring
• NGO
• Thilo Bode - Executive Director, Greenpeace Germany (1989 -1995)
• Colin Hines
• Rex Weyler, cofounder
• Uta Bellion - Former Board Member
• Burson-Marsteller Hires a Green 'Cash Cow'
• Clean and Safe Energy Coalition
• Conservatives target Greenpeace
• Criminalising civil disobedience
• Envirotruth
• Greenpeace Canada
• Greenpeace and Carbon Capture and Storage
• Greenpeace USA
• Kimberly-Clark
• Mongoven, Biscoe & Duchin/Behind Enemy Lines
• Patrick Moore
• Public Interest Watch
• Precautionary principle
• Sandefer Capital Partners
• 'Smart' environmentalism
• Blair Palese
• José Carlos Libânio
• Benedict Southworth
• Liz Gilchrist
• Chris Rose
• Monika Griefahn
• Sarah Burton - deputy program director
• Daniel Mittler - political director

External articles

• Sharon Beder, Offering Solutions or Compromises?, Chain Reaction 87, Friends of the Earth Australia, 2002, pp. 14-15,26-7.
• Chris Bunting, "No grey areas in a green's world", Times Higher Educational Supplement (UK), September 19, 2003. (Subscription only though a copy is archived here)
• Tobias Webb, "Does it pay to get into bed with business?", Guardian (UK), February 25, 2005.
• Mark Sherman, "FBI Says It Has Files on Rights Groups", Washington Post, July 17, 2005. (This is an Associated Press story).
• Captain Paul Watson, "The Other Whaling Industry: How Greenpeace Cashes In on the Suffering and Death of the Great Whales", Counterpunch, February 8 / 10, 2008.
• Dru Oja Jay, "Greenpeace's Corporate Overreach: Controversial Hire is an Opportunity to Start Building a Democratic Environmental Movement', Counterpunch, March 11, 2010.