Amsterdam (AFP)
Half a century after the creation of Greenpeace, on September 15, 1971, the head of the NGO, Jennifer Morgan, is not in the mood for champagne: the climate crisis is mobilizing her troops more than ever, to the approaching COP26 in Glasgow in October.
"There is not much to celebrate at the moment. We are in a climate emergency," insists the executive director of Greenpeace International in an interview with AFP at the headquarters of the organization, in a modest office building on the outskirts of Amsterdam.
"Everything that we have done in these 50 years, we must deploy it to create an absolutely radical and profound change. Time is running out", insists Jennifer Morgan, "deeply worried" that the response of the rulers is insufficient during this crucial summit in Glasgow.
The situation has worsened since that famous September 15, 1971 when a ship called Greenpeace, which left the Canadian port of Vancouver, attempted to stop an American nuclear test off the coast of Alaska.
In her premises filled with memorabilia from Greenpeace history, including colorful campaign posters, Jennifer Morgan says the idealism that presided over the founding of Greenpeace 50 years earlier is more needed than ever.
The headquarters of the NGO Greenpeace, September 10, 2021 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands John THYS AFP
"Greenpeace started with the idea that people could change the world with an idea and a little bit of hope ... I think in 50 years Greenpeace has achieved some really miraculous things," insists Jennifer Morgan, who has took over as head of the group in 2016.
Stop commercial whaling, fight against toxic spills, protect Antarctica ... the NGO's areas of struggle are numerous.
A Greenpeace flag on the premises of the NGO, September 10, 2021 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands John THYS AFP
- Rainbow Warrior -
The organization remains deeply marked by the drama of the Rainbow Warrior.
In 1985, the French secret services had sunk the flagship ship of Greenpeace, the Rainbow Warrior, moored in Auckland, New Zealand, without knowing that was on board the Portuguese photographer Fernando Pereira, killed in the explosion.
Greenpeace activists, "in shock at what governments are prepared to do," "mark this date every year" since, recalls Jennifer Morgan.
The gutted hull of the Rainbow Warrrior, flagship of the NGO Greenpeace, after sabotage by the French secret services on July 9, 1985 in the port of Auckland, New Zealand ROSS WHITE AFP / Archives
The group, adept at media operations, still has powerful enemies and Greenpeace is today "very cautious", its activists in countries like Brazil, Indonesia and China being particularly exposed, in a world where they are regularly killed. environmental activists.
Made famous for its punches against whalers and oil rigs, Greenpeace has since adopted other strategies, including legal action against governments and polluters.
Undated photo of Portuguese photographer Fernando Pereira who died in the July 1985 bombing of the Rainbow Warrior, a ship of the environmental movement Greenpeace, in the port of Auckland, New Zealand - AFP / Archives
"You will see Greenpeace intensify its legal cases around the world," warns Jennifer Morgan.
- Always radical -
For her, Greenpeace is not a tidy old lady, she is still "radical", despite the emergence of a new generation of militant groups such as Extinction Rebellion, which are forming the next generation.
Unlike its maverick beginnings, Greenpeace is now cooperating more and more with other environmental groups, insists the official, referring to the common front of NGOs to put pressure on world leaders, on the occasion of COP26, a "fundamental moment for the planet".
Demonstration against climate change at the call of Fridays For Future, Greenpeace and KoalaKollektiv, August 13, 2021 in Frankfurt, Germany ARMANDO BABANI AFP / Archives
"I'm deeply concerned, what I'm seeing right now are governments acting almost like we're back in the 1980s," says Jennifer Morgan.
Greenpeace is among the organizations that have called for the summit to be postponed if representatives of developing countries were unable to attend because they had not been able to get vaccinated in time.
Objection rejected by the United Nations.
For its fiftieth anniversary, Greenpeace has planned on Thursday to celebrate its half-century in a discreet way, in its offices around the world, preferring to stay focused on COP26.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel in August hailed Greenpeace's action for 50 years as "persistent, combative, unwavering and persuasive".
Greenpeace chief Jennifer Morgan (l) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the celebrations for the NGO's 50th anniversary on August 30, 2021 in Stralsund, northern Germany Stefan Sauer POOL / AFP / Archives
What future for Greenpeace in the next fifty years?
"I suppose the goal would be for Greenpeace to no longer exist!" If the environmental problems denounced by the NGO were finally resolved, jokes Jennifer Morgan.
© 2021 AFP