Erstellt am: 28. 8. 2012 - 14:23 Uhr

Direct Action in the Arctic

Reality Check: Greenpeace Executive Director takes to the seas; ÖVP and SPÖ agree on military service referendum.

“More than a little scary” is how Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace International, describes the experience of climbing onto Gazprom’s floating oil rig in the Arctic Ocean last Friday. He was one of a group of five activists from the environmentalist organisation who spent several hours hanging off the side of the Prirazlomnaya platform in the Pechora Sea to protest against drilling in the Arctic.

Environmentalists are concerned that drilling in the Russian Arctic could have disastrous consequences because of a lack of technology and infrastructure to deal with a possible spill in a remote region known for huge icebergs and severe storms. On Monday, Naidoo was out again – this time in a small boat chained to the anchor line of a supply vessel, preventing it from taking workers to the oil rig.

The images are quintessential Greenpeace, and examples of the “non-violence” and “creative confrontation” that are enshrined in the organisation’s ethos. But we don’t always see the man at the top involved in direct action. Kumi Naidoo is a human rights lawyer from South Africa and has been Greenpeace’s International Executive Director since November 2009. I spoke to him via satellite phone on board the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise on Tuesday morning. He explained what Greenpeace is trying to achieve with its campaign in the Arctic, and why it’s important.

Kumi Naidoo also talked about his personal experience taking part in an action which I imagine must take a huge amount of courage, strength and stamina. He told me he has “always been inspired by what Nelson Mandela taught us when he said the struggle for justice is the cause one is prepared to live for and work for and if needs be the cause one is prepared to die for”. Kumi Naidoo also had strong words of praise for his fellow activists, and told me that he was “deeply humbled by their skill, their commitment, their tenacity”.

Here is Kumi Naidoo’s account of his personal experience:

And here is what he told me about the Arctic campaign:

Military Service: Yes or No?

Austria is to hold a public opinion poll on whether or not to keep compulsary military service. The head of the ÖVP, Vice-Chancellor Michael Spindelegger made the surprise announcement last night. Although it's a "Volksbefragung" which isn't normally binding, the coalition partners have agreed it will be binding. We get the views of columnist Anneliese Rohrer:

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