At the end of 2006 Greenpeace joined other environmental and campaigning groups to push for government action on climate change - under the name of the I Count campaign. At the time, the reality of global warming was only just being accepted by mainstream politicians, but through Stop Climate Chaos' I Count campaign thousands of us lobbied our MPs and helped to persuade many of them that the situation was serious and that genuine action was needed. Last month the positive results of all that effort were seen when a much beefed-up Climate Bill was passed by Parliament.

All of us who took part in I Count can be proud of our contribution to three major victories in the climate change debate, which have now been incorporated into the Bill.

This is part of Lake Suwakai, Runtu, where United Plantation's contractor constructed a road and stacked wood debris in the lake, presumably when the tidal lake was at its lowest. © Greenpeace

The first shipment of certified sustainable palm oil is due to arrive in Rotterdam any day now for a company called United Plantations. But our investigations on the ground in Indonesia reveal that Universal Plantations' operations are far from sustainable. In fact, they fail to meet the already inadequate criteria established by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO - its a bit of a mouthful), and the certification, in this instance, looks like little more than a bit of marketing lubrication for the industry.
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The government would have you believe that all is well in the world of nuclear power. That the path to building more of them in the UK is smooth and care-free.

It isn't. We know this because we're keeping a keen eye on the whole process. A very keen eye. And Greenpeace investigations have exposed that the path is not as smooth as the government will have you believe.

Legal advice from top lawyers says that the government's nuclear plans are open to a number of challenges, on a number of fronts, over a number of years.

Two Greenpeace ships - one of them the Rainbow Warrior - have been impounded and their captains and 90 others arrested after three days of nonviolent direct actions in the Netherlands.

Some of the 100 volunteers occupying the construction site of a new E.on coal plant in Rotterdam.

I'll start at the beginning. On Friday evening, nearly 100 Greenpeace volunteers pitched tents next to the construction site of a new E.on coal plant in Rotterdam (one of eight E.on plans to build in Europe), to bear witness to the unfolding climate disaster.

At first light on Saturday, they moved onto the site and occupied it, stopping construction for 10 hours before all being arrested.

The climate crunch will soon make the credit crunch look trivial, and the G20 summit must tackle it now, writes Greenpeace UK Executive Director John Sauven writes for Comment is free.

This evening, 20 world leaders will gather in Washington, where they will dine at the table of their host, George W Bush, before attempting to perform life-saving surgery on the global economy.

Even in the face of the extraordinary repudiation delivered last week by the American people, Bush is unlikely to use the summit to also reshape the world's response to climate change. But that's exactly what his 19 guests should do.

After the increasing evidence of a damaging Labour rebellion on Heathrow expansion, and yesterday's "tap on the little finger" for Plane Stupid's parliament protesters, today there's news of a new challenge to the government's airport expansion plans - this time through the High Court.

Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) has lodged an appeal challenging the government's decision to allow an extra 10 million passengers a year on Stansted's existing runway.

From WattHead:

The Sierra Club just won a HUGE legal victory in a coal permitting case at the Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Appeals Board [in the USA]...

While the Sierra Club's legal team and other lawyers are still determining the full implications of the decision, it appears that this decision will essentially stop all new coal plant permitting dead in it's tracks for at least a year as EPA decides what BACT means in the context of CO2...

In short, with this new regulatory uncertainty, it's highly unlikely anyone will want to invest a dime in a new coal plant for the foreseeable future.

Read the full story on WattHead »

Greenpeace volunteers worked constantly over several days to build the domed Rescue Station.

As governments prepare for the next round of crucial climate talks this December in Poznan, Poland, we're making a few preparations of our own. Obviously, we'll be at the talks, pressuring governments to quit coal and work towards a meaningful deal to save the climate - but we also have plenty planned for the run up to the talks.

On the edge of a vast open pit coal mine in Konin, Poland, we've set up a Climate Rescue Station - a four storey high earth dome powered by renewable energy - to highlight the true cost of coal in the lead up to the negotiations. People from 15 countries will be staying at the station, telling the story of how coal (the single greatest threat to our climate) is affecting our planet.

A dance troupe from Manokwari take a tour of the Esperanza's bridge in October 2008 © Greenpeace/Rante

Jamie wrote this - his thoughts and reflections on the ship tour so far - as he was waiting for something to happen in Indonesia last night. Eventually, something did.

Direct actions can be quite boring at times. The few moments of excitement are the ones which make the headlines and the photos, but anyone who has participated themselves will know there can be long, drawn-out stretches when not much is happening. Direct inaction, if you will.

I'm currently experiencing that now. As I write this, nestled in the campaign office on board the Esperanza, we're playing a waiting game. You've probably read about what the crew here has been up to in the Indonesian port of Dumai, painting and blockading palm oil tankers.

After painting and obstructing various palm oil tankers in Dumai earlier this week, we of the Esperanza have been playing a waiting game. There was one tanker due in which the campaigners were particularly interested in - not only was it bound for Europe, but it was picking up a cargo of palm oil from Sinar Mas, the largest palm oil company in Indonesia. As soon as it arrived, a climber was installed on the anchor chain and then there was some more waiting. A lot more waiting.