ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
Greenpeace has identified global climate change as one of the greatest threats to the planet. Last year at the climate summit in Kyoto, industrialized countries agreed to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases they pump into the atmosphere. But crucial details of this agreement are still under negotiation, and at the moment little real action is being taken to address the problem.
Meanwhile, billions of dollars keep being spent on the development of fossil fuels, instead of being invested into clean, renewable energy.
Greenpeace believes that a temperature increase of one degree centigrade is the absolute maximum that should be allowed. If we want to keep the climate change in this scale, three quarters of carbon already found can never be used as fuel. If we continue burning fossil fuels at present levels, the “safe” limit of one degree centigrade will be reached in just 40 years.
Despite this fact, oil companies, such as Shell, Mobil and BP, continue to extend their reach, exploring oil. And governments are encouraging it with favorable tax rates.
Greenpeace is therefore campaigning against new oil exploration. Fossil fuels can no longer be assumed to provide the bulk of our energy in the future. Instead, investments need to be made into clean, renewable energy.