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Greenpeace calls for protest outside Fonterra
After arrests Greenpeace calls for protest outside Fonterra headquarters
Southland, Tuesday 17 November 2009 – The four Greenpeace activists arrested today after closing down a Southland lignite coalmine say they succeeded in drawing attention to Fonterra’s expanding use of coal for milk processing. They labelled the burning of around 450,000 tonnes of coal every year Fonterra’s climate crime with a large banner across the mine.
Greenpeace is now calling on New Zealanders to attend a peaceful lunchtime protest outside Fonterra headquarters 9 Princes Street, in Auckland, next Tuesday 24 November at 12.30pm to demonstrate their opposition to Fonterra’s climate crimes.
Three weeks out from the Copenhagen international climate talks, Greenpeace says Fonterra remains the biggest block to New Zealand doing the right thing on climate change and it is calling on John Key to bring New Zealand’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter under control.
Today's protest action at the New Vale lignite coalmine follows September’s blockade of an Indonesian shipment of palm-based animal feed entering Port Tauranga and another shipment protest at Taranaki at which activists also highlighted Fonterra’s climate crimes.
Greenpeace New Zealand climate campaigner Simon Boxer said the activists who shut down the New Vale mine early this morning by blocking one of the entrances and locking themselves to diggers realised they would be breaking some laws.
“They see Fonterra’s increasing
climate pollution as a far greater crime and decided to do
what they could to stop the damage to the climate and to
take action to raise public awareness of the
issues.”
Boxer said Fonterra’s intensification of
dairying in New Zealand meant it has put profit before the
climate.
“Fonterra always goes for the cheapest alternative like dirty lignite coal for energy or unsustainable palm-based animal feed, grown at the expense of Indonesian rainforests.
“The short term solution is to switch to biomass for energy instead of coal and to stop palm kernel imports. Long term, Fonterra needs to move away from its intensive dairying model towards smart farming to provide a secure base for our industry, our economy and our environment.”
ENDS
Greenpeace
Greenpeace exists because this fragile earth deserves a voice.
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace.
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