Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace.
Monday, September 06, 2010
A mural painted by the University of the Philippines Artists’ Circle Fraternity to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Rainbow Warrior’s bombing.©Greenpeace/Jose Enrique Soriano
We expose environmental criminals, and challenge government and corporations when they fail to live up to their mandate to safeguard our environment and our future.
In pursuing our mission, we have no permanent allies or enemies. We promote open, informed debate about society's environmental choices. We use research, lobbying, and quiet diplomacy to pursue our goals, as well as high-profile, non-violent conflict to raise the level and quality of public debate.
And we believe that the struggle to preserve the future of our planet is not about us. It's about you. Greenpeace speaks for 2.8 million supporters worldwide, and encourages many millions more than that to take action every day.
To maintain our independence, we do not accept donations from governments or corporations but relies on contributions from individual supporters and foundation grants.
We take the name of our flagship, the Rainbow Warrior, from a North American Cree Indian legend. It described a time when humanity's greed has made the Earth sick. At that time, a tribe of people known as the Warriors of the Rainbow would rise up to defend her.
As one of the longest banners we've ever made summed things up, "When the last tree is cut, the last river poisoned, and the last fish dead, we will discover that we can't eat money..."
Greenpeace is already active in many part of Asia. Our work in the region has included stopping hazardous waste imports, opposing radioactive shipments, campaigning against forest destruction, lobbying governments on sustainable energy issues and drawing attention to the dangers of waste incinerations. Often working with other local groups, Greenpeace has run successful campaigns in the Philippines, Taiwan, India, and Indonesia. We made a commitment to develop a presence in Asia in late 80s and early 90s, and first established an office in Japan (1989) and then China (1997). Initial investigations were also initiated in SEA, focusing primarily on Indonesia and Philippines.
Southeast Asia is in a key position to determine global environmental security. Over the past 30 years, Greenpeace has successfully campaigned in industrialized countries to reduce and eliminate environmental pollution and degradation. However, these efforts and many achievements can easily be reversed as these same multinational companies export dirty technologies resulting in environmental degradation in the region. Hence, after many years of investigations and establishing campaign presence in key countries, Greenpeace finally succeeded in opening an office in the region. Greenpeace Southeast Asia was formally established on March 1, 2000.