Greenpeace occupies 4 Italian coal-fired power stations, demanding G8 climate leadership

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Rome, Italy — As the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations arrived at the G8 Summit today, over 100 Greenpeace activists from around the world have occupied four coal-fired power stations across Italy, demanding the G8 Heads of State take leadership on climate change.

In the early hours of this morning, the activists, from 18 countries, occupied coal conveyors and climbed smokestacks and cranes on the four power stations in Brindisi, Marghera (just outside of Venice), at Vado Ligure, (near Genoa) and at an old oil plant at Porto Tolle, (set to be re-opened as an experimental so-called “clean coal” power plant.) Coal is the worst climate pollutant of all fossil fuels.

The Brindisi plant is Italy’s biggest coal-fired power station and the country’s largest single source of C02 emissions. Greenpeace plans to stop it from polluting by blocking the coal conveyor belts and preventing coal from going into the plant.

“Politicians talk but leaders act” said UK activist Ben Stewart from the top of the 160m high chimney at the Marghera plant. “There is no more time to waste. The G8 leaders must stop putting the interests of big coal and other climate polluting industries ahead of the planet and take strong, decisive leadership on climate change. That means deep cuts in emissions by 2020, investing in adaption and mitigation in the developing world and halting tropical deforestation.”

Stewart is one of the Kingsnorth Six climate activists who were acquitted of criminal damage after painting the chimney there.

Greenpeace has established the urgent criteria that G8 leaders must agree to:
* keep global temperature rise as far below a 2°C increase as possible, compared to pre-industrial levels, to avert catastrophic climate change.
* ensure that global emissions peak by 2015 and be as close to zero as possible by 2050;
* commit, as a group, to cut emissions by at least 40% by 2020, on 1990 levels;
* invest US$106 billion (€74 billion) of the US$140 billion needed annually for developing countries to adapt to and take action on climate change and to finance forest protection;
* immediately commit to the establishment of a funding mechanism to stop deforestation and associated emissions in all developing countries by 2020, and achieve zero deforestation in the Amazon, Congo Basin and Indonesia by 2015.

“The G8 heads of state must break the deadlock in the climate negotiations and stop blaming developing countries for their own inadequate climate policies. This is an opportunity for them to take personal responsibility and show that they are real leaders - who act - and not just politicians full of hot air,” said Phil Radford, Greenpeace US Executive Director, from the L’Aquila meeting.

“If the rest of the G8 descends to President Obama’s stated goal of returning emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 then our children will inherit a world of droughts, famines and the climate catastrophe scientists are warning us about.”

Available from: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/releases/greenpeace-occupies-4-italian#