Indonesia eyeing $1bn climate aid to cut down forests, says Greenpeace
November 22, 2010 by drjohnmcgowan
Filed under Green Energy
Vague legal definitions may allow Indonesia to class forests as ‘degraded’ and ‘rehabilitate’ the land with palm trees and biofuel crops
Indonesia plans to class large areas of its remaining natural forests as “degraded” land in order to cut them down and receive nearly $ 1bn of climate aid for replanting them with palm trees and biofuel crops, according to Greenpeace International.
According to internal government documents from the forestry, agriculture and energy departments in Jakarta, the areas of land earmarked for industrial plantation expansion in the next 20 years include 37m ha of existing natural forest – 50% of the country’s orangutan habitat and 80% of its carbon-rich peatland. More than 60m ha – an area nearly five times the size of England – could be converted to palm oil and biofuel production in the next 20 years, say the papers.
“The land is roughly equivalent to all the currently undeveloped land in Indonesia,” says the report. “The government plans for a trebling of pulp and paper production by 2015 and a doubling of palm oil production by 2020.”
The result, says the environmental group in a report released in Jakarta today, would be to massively expand Indonesia’s palm, paper and biofuel industries in the name of “rehabilitating” land, while at the same time allowing its powerful forestry industry to carry on business as usual and to collect international carbon funds.
“[Money] earmarked for forest protection may actually be used to subsidise their destruction with significant climate, wildlife and social costs,” said the report.
The report comes at a critical time in global climate talks, due to resume next week in Cancun, Mexico. Forestry and peatland contribute nearly 18% of all global carbon emissions and Indonesia is negotiating a model $ 1bn forestry deal with Norway and the US. This could save millions of tonnes of climate emissions in return for Indonesia agreeing to a moratorium on future forest and peatland clearances.
But weak legal definitions of “forest” and “degraded land”, have allowed the global logging industry and officials in some governments to take advantage of an ambitious UN forest-reform scheme known as Redd (Reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation). This would pay countries to replant trees and restore land. Indonesia has pledged drastic action to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 26% on its own and 42% with international climate aid. If it agrees to a binding deal to limit deforestation, says Greenpeace, this would send a powerful message to other forested countries.
“A strong deal to prevent the destruction of natural forests and peatlands would put the troubled climate talks back on track. But if international money intended to support the protection of forests and peatland is allowed to enable their destruction, any confidence in the UN talks is expected to dissolve,” said a Greenpeace spokeswoman.
The Indonesian and Norwegian governments last night declined to respond until they had seen the report.
Greenpeace banned from intercepting oil-drilling ship
September 28, 2010 by drjohnmcgowan
Filed under Green Energy
US oil giant Chevron wins injunction ordering protest group to stop direct action preventing ship from reaching destination north of Shetland
Greenpeace has been banned from intercepting a deep sea oil-drilling ship after the protest group sent “wave after wave” of swimmers into the north Atlantic to stop the vessel from reaching its drilling site.
The US oil giant Chevron was granted a wide-ranging interdict, or injunction, by judges in Edinburgh today, ordering Greenpeace to stop any further direct action preventing the Stena Carron from reaching its destination or impeding its “lawful business”.
Chevron said the interdict would be served on Greenpeace at its headquarters in London and on the Esperanza protest ship near the Lagavulin oilfield, north of Shetland.
It is the second time Chevron, which owns about 1,100 Texaco filling stations in the UK, has been forced to go to court against Greenpeace in the last five days.
Last Friday, the company won an interdict ordering Greenpeace to take down a “survival pod” which the group had attached to an anchor chain on Tuesday, preventing the Stena Carron from departing from Shetland for the oilfield.
But as the drilling ship set off at the weekend, Greenpeace sidestepped the first interdict – which had dealt only with the survival pod – by changing its tactics.
After tracking the vessel north, it sent a series of activists wearing deepwater survival suits into the Atlantic. They then swam in front of the vessel, forcing it to stop short of its destination.
The protesters, based on the Esperanza, were in the water on four-hour long shifts before getting eight hours rest and then taking to the water again.
One of the activists involved, who asked not to be named, said earlier this week: “It’s tiring, and it’s hurting.”
Chevron accused Greenpeace of endangering the activists’ safety. “While we acknowledge and respect the right of Greenpeace to express its views by peaceful and lawful action, we deplore the recklessness of their actions so far and urge Greenpeace to respect the interdict granted by the court and cease these activities immediately,” it said.
Greenpeace said it could not comment until it had seen the interdict, but confirmed it had effectively been banned from any further protests against the Stena Carron.
Last month, it sent the Esperanza to the Arctic to protest against a test drilling operation run by the UK oil exploration firm Cairn Energy, which was searching for oil and gas off the west coast of Greenland.
Then four Greenpeace climbers scaled a Cairn Energy drilling platform and suspended platforms underneath.
They were forced to abandon the protest by severe weather two days later and were arrested, fined about £1,900 each and deported.
Shetland deepwater wells likely to be approved in face of Greenpeace action
September 26, 2010 by drjohnmcgowan
Filed under Green Energy
• Chevron first in line to explore north Atlantic prospects
• Greenpeace prepares to take government to court
The government is shortly expected to give permission for new deepwater drilling off the Shetland Islands in a controversial move that could trigger a legal confrontation with Greenpeace.
The environmental group fears the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) could make a decision as early as tomorrow for the first wells of this kind off Britain since BP ran into trouble in the Gulf of Mexico.
US company Chevron will be first in line for permission to explore two prospects, with BP following, but Decc officials insisted last night that a decision had yet to be taken.
Greenpeace yesterday started a new campaign of direct action using swimmers against a Chevron-chartered ship, Stena Carron, in a bid to stop it sailing to the Shetlands where it is expected to drill on the Lagavulin prospect. The Greenpeace protestors took to the waters of the north Atlantic less than 48 hours after a separate occupation of the same vessel was ruled illegal by an Edinburgh court.
The protest comes just after the UK government derailed attempts by other nations in the European Union to introduce international scrutiny of deepwater drilling operations that could have led to a moratorium offshore.
Greenpeace said it planned to extend the wider campaign against David Cameron’s administration, including going to court to seek a judicial review.
“We think the government is acting irrationally if it presses ahead with new drilling permits when the lessons from the Gulf of Mexico have not yet been learned,” said Ben Ayliffe, a spokesman for Greenpeace. “We will be doing all we can to ensure a change of policy.”
Late last week Richard Benyon, a minister at the department for the environment, was dispatched to Oslo to head off a German initiative to subject drilling to far more scrutiny following the BP well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.
Germany wanted firm action taken under the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the north-east Atlantic treaty (known as Ospar) but retreated in the face of opposition from Britain, Norway and the Netherlands – all big North Sea oil producers.
Greenpeace condemned the result of the Ospar summit, saying it sat very badly with the coalition government’s supposed commitment to taking environmental issues more seriously. “When the self-styled ‘greenest government ever’ sends its ministers overseas to block international scrutiny of its deepwater drilling regime, it’s obvious they have something to hide,” said Ruth Davis, policy director at Greenpeace.
“With ministers acting as special envoys for the oil industry, it’s no wonder people feel they need to take peaceful direct action against new deepwater drilling, to protect their oceans and their climate.”
Last Friday the campaign group lost a case brought by Chevron, forcing its activists to abandon a direct action against the Stena Carron drillship that was being prepared for operations off the Shetlands.
A court in Edinburgh ordered Greenpeace to end its protest on the grounds that it endangered the safety of the vessel. Activists spent four days in a “survival pod” hanging off the ship’s anchor.
The environmental group’s action follows similar protests against Cairn Energy’s drilling off the coast of Greenland. Greenpeace says both waters – off the Shetlands and Greenland – are inappropriate for oil exploration given the unspoiled natural environment and the new information from BP’s Deepwater Explorer accident about how devastating a blowout can be to the local shoreline.
BP, Chevron and Total of France are all pushing Decc to give permission for further drilling west of the Shetlands. Decc itself has estimated that 17% of the UK’s unexploited oil and gas reserves may lie in this deepwater Atlantic area. BP already has Foinaven, Clair and Schiehallion as producing fields there, and wants to drill the North Uist prospect.
The department is keen to see the area developed but is also wary of allowing BP and others to drill in deep water so soon after the Gulf of Mexico spill. BP has already withdrawn from a planned new licensing round off Greenland rather than risk being banned by the government in Nuuk.
The move to the Shetlands and Greenland are all part of a wider push towards the Arctic as oil companies are forced into increasingly environmentally sensitive areas as reserves in more accessible and less controversial locations.
Last week the Russian government held a major conference on the Arctic which is believed to be the home of one quarter of the world’s resources of oil and gas at a time when global warming is breaking up the ice and making it easier to drill.
Russia, America and other countries are all pushing to have their sovereignty accepted by the United Nations amid fears of a a new cold war over this polar region.
Greenpeace forced to end North Sea oil drilling protest
September 25, 2010 by drjohnmcgowan
Filed under Green Energy
Chevron accused of using ‘legal hammer’ after Stena Carron ship halted by protesters
Environmental campaigners who attached themselves to an oil drill ship ended their protest yesterday.
Greenpeace activists spent four days in a “survival pod” hanging off the Stena Carron’s anchor in an attempt to stop it drilling in the North Sea. It was the latest skirmish in battles between environmental campaigners and oil companies in the wake of the BP oil spill off the coast of Louisiana.
The ship’s operator, US energy giant Chevron, was granted an injunction at the Court of Session in Edinburgh ordering the campaigners to move on safety grounds. Greenpeace spokeswoman Leila Deen said they had no choice but to comply. Chevron argued that it needs to be able to move the ship away from the coast in rough seas for safety reasons.
Greenpeace claims that the ship was about to sail for a site in the Lagavulin oil field before drilling an exploratory well in 1,640ft of water.
A Chevron spokesman said: “While we respect the right of Greenpeace or anyone else to express their views by peaceful and lawful action, we deplore activities that could put both the crew as well as the protesters at risk.
“Chevron’s priority is always safety. We are confident our deepwater operations are safe. Like Greenpeace, we share the expectation that the energy we all need should be produced safely and with respect for the environment.”
Deen called the injunction a “legal hammer” and insisted protests will continue. “Our protest was always safe,” she said, “while deepwater drilling is reckless and dangerous.”
Chevron wins court order in bid to end Greenpeace oil protest
September 24, 2010 by drjohnmcgowan
Filed under Green Energy
Judges grant Chevron an injunction that could leave Greenpeace activists on Shetland oil drilling ship facing arrest
Greenpeace faces hefty fines or the arrest of its activists after the US oil giant Chevron won a court order demanding that the environmentalists abandon their occupation of a drilling ship off Shetland.
Greenpeace has occupied the Stena Carron drilling ship since Tuesday morning, attaching a “survival pod” to one of the vessel’s anchors to prevent it leaving Bressay Sound for exploratory drilling in water about 500m deep 150km north of the islands.
In contrast to the swift response by the Danish navy to Greenpeace’s last oil protest stunt in the Arctic, Chevron has been unable to call out either the Scottish police or the Royal Navy to force Greenpeace to abandon their nest on the Stena Carron’s chain.
For the past few days, Greenpeace inflatables have been sending supplies, camera crews and campaigners to the pod with complete freedom, posting video blogs on their website. At times, there are three or four campaigners crammed into the two metre wide specially reinforced capsule, almost treating the action as a breezy excursion.
Today judges in Edinburgh granted Chevron, best known in the UK for its Texaco filling station chain, an interdict, or injunction, against Greenpeace ordering its activists to abandon the capsule. If they refuse, Greenpeace would face heavy penalties, potentially including sequestration of its assets, or jail for its staff members.
A Chevron spokeswoman said: “A petition for removal or interdict was filed on behalf of Stena and Chevron North Sea Ltd at the court of session in Edinburgh today, which was granted, and the matter is now being handled by the police.”
Two days ago, the Aberdeen Press & Journal newspaper quoted George Esson, a former police chief constable involved in tackling Greenpeace’s occupation of the Brent Spar in 1995 saying that evicting the protesters by force was “fraught with difficulties.”
The paper quoted Esson saying: “Occupations like this are difficult enough to deal with in a building on land, but the sea makes it even more difficult to deal with. Police have to decide what jurisdiction the situation falls under. If there is no criminal behaviour then it is a civil matter.”
Greenpeace have already boasted that the two-person crew in the pod has enough food and water to last for a month. Last night, the excursion proved more testing: the campaigners had seen a Force 8 gale heading their way, heavily buffeting the pod and the Esperanza protest vessel.
Chevron said earlier this week: “This kind of action is foolhardy and demonstrates that Greenpeace is willing to put its volunteers at risk to carry out such reckless publicity stunts and we are concerned for the safety of those involved.”
Leila Deen, one of the Greenpeace activists who briefly occupied the capsule, said: “Chevron is using a legal hammer to end a peaceful protest. Our pod occupation by expert climbers is entirely safe, but Chevron wants to send this ship to sea to drill a dangerous deep water well off the Scottish coast and that’s why they’ve gone to court.”
Chevron has told the court it needs to move its 225m vessel from its current mooring for safety reasons, because of the rough seas, Greenpeace said. The protesters said they were being hypocrites.
Deen said: “They claim they need us off their anchor chain because they can’t guarantee this ship can hold its position in rough seas, but they want to use the same ship to drill for oil in even rougher seas, where a deviation of a few metres in their position risks disaster. In reality our protest was always entirely safe, while deepwater drilling is reckless and dangerous.”
Greenpeace claims activists could occupy Shetland oil-drilling ship for up to a month
September 22, 2010 by drjohnmcgowan
Filed under Green Energy
Environmental activists aiming to prevent Chevron’s deepwater drilling have attached a ‘survival pod’ to the vessel’s anchor
The protest group Greenpeace claims it could occupy a deepwater drilling ship off Shetland for up to a month after two activists attached a “survival pod” to the vessel’s anchor.
In the latest stage of its campaign against deep sea drilling, Greenpeace has targeted a 228m long ship owned by the US oil giant Chevron which had been preparing to set sail to drill in about 500m of water some 150km north of Shetland.
The campaigners, based on the Greenpeace protest ship Esperanza, attached the pod to one of the Stena Carron’s anchors while it was moored in Bressay Sound after spending last night in a tent suspended by ropes.
Earlier today they handed up enough fresh food and water to supply the two activists for a month, before sealing the two metre-long pod shut.
One of the two activists involved, a Finnish climber called Timo Puohiniemi, was amongst the four Greenpeace protesters who briefly occupied a British drilling rig owned by Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy in the Arctic last month.
The second activist in the pod was named by Greenpeace as Leila Deen – a campaigner who previously threw custard over Peter Mandelson – was also on board the Esperanza in Greenland.
In a statement issued by Greenpeace, Deen said: “An oil spill here would be a disaster and just as difficult to plug as the BP well in the Gulf of Mexico, but the Government has so far refused to stop issuing permits for ships like this to drill.”
So far, Greenpeace has not been challenged or impeded by the police, Royal Navy or coastguard during its latest action, and has promised to keep a rescue boat very close to the survival pod. Chevron, which owns the Texaco petrol station chain and is involved in 10 oil and gas fields in British water, confirmed it was not aware of any direct intervention by the authorities.
A Chevron spokesman said: “This kind of action is foolhardy and demonstrates that Greenpeace is willing to put its volunteers at risk to carry out such reckless publicity stunts and we are concerned for the safety of those involved.”
“We fully acknowledge and respect the right of Greenpeace or anyone else to express their views by peaceful and lawful action but deplore activities that could put people at risk.
“Chevron’s first priority is always safety; we are confident our operations are safe and we can drill deep water wells in the Atlantic Margin safely and without environmental harm.”