Greenpeace mulls actions in Bali
Greenpeace mulls actions in Bali
The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali
The arrival of the ship Arctic Sunrise in Bali on Monday
signals that its owners, Greenpeace, are ready for action if need
be to remind the meeting on sustainable development in Bali that
actions and not words are what it takes, said a senior Greenpeace
activist on Monday.
Greenpeace political advisor Remi Parmentier said Arctic
Sunrise was the organization's platform to launch various
activities for which Greenpeace had earned its infamous
reputation among governments world wide.
"It (the ship) has arrived, the platform is here. We'll
announce our activities as they unfold," said Parmentier who has
been with Greenpeace for 25 years.
Thousands of delegates from around the world have begun
preliminary talks at the last of a series of meetings ahead of
the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in
Johannesburg, South Africa in late August to September.
Aiming to stop the over exploitation of the world's natural
resources, the talks in Bali are expected to produce an action
plan on sustainable development that world leaders will sign at
the Johannesburg summit.
But Parmentier warned that what was happening in Bali
threatened to erode governments' commitments made during the 1992
world Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
He said the business interests of developed countries had
dominated the talks, while developing countries were plagued with
weak leadership.
"For every issue under discussion, the WSSD must agree on
targets and timeframes, means of implementation and financial
resources, institutional requirements and monitoring and
reporting," a Greenpeace booklet on sustainable development says.
The Arctic Sunrise is a means to get this message across to
the delegates in Bali. "The ship symbolizes the voice of the
people. This is the most effective campaign tool," said Athena
Ronquillo-Ballesteros, Greenpeace's Southeast Asia campaign
manager.
"It will be the communication center for Greenpeace delegates
and our constituencies around the globe so that whatever happens
in Bali gets broadcast to the rest of the world."
She said Greenpeace's mission here was to pressure the
government to stick with the agenda of sustainable development.
"The real question for the Bali conference is whether
governments are trustworthy, can stick to their words,"
Parmentier said.
The global environment continues to degrade at an alarming
rate, whereas it should be the government's duty to reverse that
trend, he said.
"It is our (Greenpeace) duty as a networking organization to
express this, the best we can; and we will and they're not going
to get away with this."