Some Campaigns and Priorities.

Greenpeace runs campaigns and projects which fit into the "Issues" (as campaign areas are called within Greenpeace) categories below. Besides exposing problems such as over-fishing ( in 1976 a campaign was launched against the killing and skinning of baby seals in Newfoundland for the high-fashion fur trade, targeting Norwegian ships engaged in the trade after receiving a hostile welcome from the Newfoundland fishermen involved in the hunt. Greenpeace used helicopters to move people and supplies to a base camp at Belle Isle. Brigitte Bardot later got involved in this campaign, to great effect. In August 2008, a Greenpeace ship started dropping 150 2-3 ton boulders into the North Sea in order to stop trawling, which it says harms marine life, demanding that Germany and the EU implement a ban on heavy net bottom trawling in the protected area. German fishermen said that the rocks can damage boats and threaten fishermen lives. The Federation of Fishermen Associations refused to talk with Greenpeace after the action and its president Ben Daalder made the statement "We don't negotiate with a criminal organisation" ) or threats linked to nuclear power ( in 1973 the yacht Fri spearheaded an international protest of a flotilla of yachts in a voyage against atmospheric nuclear tests at Moruroa in French Polynesia. Fri was an important part of a series of anti-nuclear protest campaigns out of New Zealand and Australia which lasted thirty years, from which New Zealand declared itself a Nuclear free zone which became enshrined in legislation in what became the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987; On August 22, 2007, the Philippine Department of Energy's plan to develop nuclear energy as an alternative source of power was opposed by Von Hernandez, campaign director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, who warned that exploring nuclear options to bolster energy demand is "dangerous and misleading." He said the risks of accidents like Chernobyl or the most recent Kashiwazaki nuclear plant leak in Japan after an earthquake are real ), such as harmful radiation ( for example, activists place themselves between the whaler's harpoons and their prey or invade nuclear facilities dressed as barrels of radioactive waste. Currently Greenpeace is in the midst of a campaign called Project Hot Seat, which is geared toward placing pressure on the United States Congress to stop global warming. Other initiatives include the development of a fuel-efficient car, the SmILE ) and proliferation, Greenpeace campaigns for alternative solutions such as marine reserves and renewable energy ( February 2009: following a six-month long Quit Coal campaign by Greenpeace, the Greek Minister of Development states that the government is not considering coal or nuclear power as part of Greece's energy future. Instead the Greek government will be rewriting its Long-Term Energy Plan to exclude coal and promote renewable energy and energy efficiency ).

The organization currently addresses many and varied environmental issues with a primary focus on efforts to stop global warming ( in July 2009, 11 Greenpeace activists climbed Mount Rushmore and unfurled a banner challenging President Barack Obama to stop global warming ) and the preservation of the world's oceans and ancient forests ( August 2009: after seven years of Greenpeace pressure, Finnish government-owned logging company Metsähallitus agrees to leave the tall trees of the old-growth forests of northern Lapland standing, and with them, the livelihood of the Sámi people; August 2009: in a tremendous victory for ancient forests, Kimberly-Clark, the company known for its popular brands like Kleenex, Scott, and Cottonelle announces a policy that places it among the industry leaders in sustainability. The announcement brings the five-year Greenpeace Kleercut campaign to a successful ). In addition to conventional environmental organization methods, such as lobbying businesses ( April 2009: Germany announces that it will become the sixth EU country to ban the cultivation of Monsanto’s genetically engineered (GE) maize MON810 - the only GE crop that can be commercially grown in the region ) and politicians and participating in international conferences, Greenpeace uses direct action to attract attention to particular environmental problems.

Four Greenpeace activists breached security at Heathrow Airport on February 25, 2008 to climb on top of a British Airways plane and protest plans to build a third runway. On May 23, 2008, Greenpeace blocked coal shipments of Team Energy Philippines with the intention being to prevent expansion of coal power plants in the country. They sprayed a banner saying "Quit Coal" on the ship, but after negotiations they withdrew.

July 2008: Ferrero (famous for its Nutella brand) becomes the latest large palm oil user to changes its position to support a moratorium on cutting down trees in Indonesia for palm oil plantations.

August 2008: After our campaign in the 1990's against toxic PVC the US Congress somewhat belatedly follows Europe's lead of outlawing toxic PVC in children's toys.

February 2009: Electronics giant Philips bows to pressure from Greenpeace and consumers and becomes a leader in environmentally friendly take-back policies for electronic waste. An ambitious policy of global take-back exceeds legal requirements in many countries.

Among c urrent Greenpeace priorities there are such as:

· Tackling human-induced climate change (global warming)

· Preserving the oceans (including stopping whaling and bottom trawling)

· Saving ancient forests

· Peace and nuclear disarmament

· Promoting sustainable agriculture (and opposing genetic engineering)

· Eliminating toxic chemicals (including from E-waste), many of which are carcinogens

· Solar Electricity. The EPIA/Greenpeace Advanced Scenario shows that by the year 2030, Photovoltaic systems could be generating approximately 2,600 TWh of electricity around the world. This means that, assuming a serious commitment is made to energy efficiency, enough solar power would be produced globally in twenty-five years’ time to satisfy the electricity needs of almost 14% of the world’s population.

· Fossil fuels phase-out. In the Greenpeace and EREC´s Energy (R)evolution scenario, the world could eliminate fossil fuel use by 2090.

· Think tanks. Think tanks, under the Greenpeace umbrella, propose blueprints for the world's transition to renewable energy. The focus is to reduce carbon emissions without compromising on economic growth. The Solar Generation project, conceived in 2000 by Greenpeace and the European Photo-voltaic Industry Association (EPIA), addresses major energy challenges facing the global society and charts out the solar energy remedies until 2050. Greenpeace think tanks also focus on individual nation's energy scenarios. For example, Greenpeace has published scenarios where renewable resources like solar can become the backbone of the economies of developing countries like India, by 2050.