A lot has happened this year in the fight for climate and environmental justice. Together, with your support, we have saved natural spaces, obtained new legislation, won cases against polluters. There have been victories, progress but also setbacks and challenges. A short, non-exhaustive overview of the notable moments of the past year.
We recalled the importance of urban nature
Nature in the city is our best ally. For the air we breathe, for our mental health, to resist climate change. Greenpeace wanted to remind us of this on the eve of our municipal elections. By teaming up with independent experts, Greenpeace has mapped the state of access to nature throughout Belgium. We carried out actions in 25 different locations, hijacking entrance signs in urban areas.
Thanks to you, petitions have also been launched in 58 towns and are currently being handed over to the new municipal councils so that they take the place of nature in their municipality seriously in the coming years!
Oceans: Norway stops deep-sea mining projects
Together, we have put pressure on our governments to protect the oceans from the threat of deep-sea mining. And it worked! Faced with the momentum of mobilization, the Norwegian government, which was preparing to grant operating licenses in the Arctic Ocean in 2025, stopped them for at least a year.
We must continue to fight to achieve the major objective of protecting 30% of the oceans completely protected by 2030. This ambition, validated historically High Seas Treaty of the UN, which the Belgian parliament adopted at the end of 2024, must be transformed into acts. A network of marine reserves must allow incredible marine life and its infinite riches to be preserved. We will therefore continue this fight, together!
COP29: the unacceptable tour de force of rich countries
The 29th UN World Climate Summit was held in Baku, Azerbaijan. Its main objective? Outline how rich countries, historically responsible for climate change, will support developing countries in their fight against the climate crisis over the next ten years. Greenpeace was there and fought until the end. The final agreement was largely insufficient. The rich countries agreed on an amount of 300 billion dollars per year, which sounded like a slap in the face of the developing countries who needed at least 4 times more to face a crisis than they have not caused. Tears of rage flowed during the last plenary session…
But we are not giving up. We are more determined than ever to integrate the polluter pays principle into climate financing mechanisms, which will force the most polluting industries to pay according to their responsibility.
Justice: a Belgian farmer confronted by TotalEnergies
Climate affairs have multiplied in recent years. States and companies find themselves facing the courts and must be held accountable for their responsibility for climate change. Their impunity finally seems to be a thing of the past. In April 2024, the Swiss Association of Elders for Climate condemned the Swiss state for human rights violations due to insufficient climate objectives.
In Belgium, Hugues Falys, a farmer from Hainaut, took TotalEnergies to court this year for its responsibility in the climate crisis which impacts, among other things, his farm. This case, called The Farmer Case, is supported by Greenpeace. This is a historic first in Belgium and more and more of you are following and supporting it. Together, we will not let up on the pressure to bring polluters to justice!
The fossil fuel industry seeks to silence us
Proof that Greenpeace scares the fossil fuel industry, it is attacking us! Many oil and gas companies are launching gag orders against us intended to prevent any form of opposition to their disastrous activities. But fortunately, these lawsuits also turn against them. This is how Shell, which was demanding millions of pounds from Greenpeace UK, has just dropped its lawsuits by accepting an out-of-court settlement. This step backwards by the multinational is undoubtedly the direct consequence of the great citizen mobilization against Shell and the catastrophic public image of the company that resulted from it.
Our fight continues with you, particularly in the United States, where the company Energy Transfer is demanding no less than 300 million dollars from Greenpeace USA and Greenpeace International.
European law against deforestation delayed but not weakened
More than a million of you signed the petition in 2020 demanding a strong European law against deforestation. The political and legislative process was long and laborious. But it was successful: European regulations on deforestation were approved by the European institutions. From January 2025, Europeans would for the first time have the guarantee that the products they purchased did not cause any deforestation!
This enormous advance was not to the tastes of the industries that destroy forests. Their continued lobbying pushed the European Commission to delay the entry into force of the law by a year. This unacceptable step backwards could have been even worse.
Under the indecent alliance of the right and the European extreme right, the text of the law almost was considerably weakened. Fortunately this was not the case. Greenpeace will continue to fight in 2025 so that deforestation caused by the European Union (which represents 10% of global deforestation) finally stops!
Europe will no longer transship Russian gas
In 2024, Europe finally decided to ban the transshipment of Russian liquefied gas in the European Union. We have been working with you for this since 2022! The Russian gas trade in Europe directly feeds Putin's war chest and finances his offensive in Ukraine. The ban will come into force in March 2025. With you, we will continue to push Europe and Belgium to go further to escape their dependence on fossil gas.
Greenpeace also opened an office in Ukraine in 2024 to help the country carry out ecological reconstruction and investigate the environmental consequences of the Russian invasion.
And a huge number of victories…
And a bunch of essential victories also marked 2024. Right in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, the peuple Munduruku obtained official recognition of its ancestral lands after 10 years of struggle. Last June, Europe finally acquired a nature restoration law. Local battles were also won. The City of Brussels, for example, very recently announced that it was abandoning its construction project which threatened to destroy the Thunderbergthis island of biodiversity in the heart of Laeken. THE 20km from Brussels will no longer be sponsored by TotalEnergies.
All of this would not have been possible without your help.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support!Oceans: Norway stops deep-sea mining projects
Together, we have put pressure on our governments to protect the oceans from the threat of deep-sea mining. And it worked
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