Greenpeace International

Independent global campaigning network for a green and peaceful future.

Greenpeace was founded in Vancouver in 1971, when a small group of Canadian and American activists chartered a fishing boat called the Phyllis Cormack and sailed toward Amchitka Island in the Aleutians to bear witness to underground US nuclear tests. The voyage failed to stop the test but drew enough public attention that further tests at the site were cancelled the following year.

The organisation has since grown into an independent global campaigning network, coordinated by Greenpeace International (Stichting Greenpeace Council) in Amsterdam, with 25+ regional and national offices. It has a strict policy of accepting no funding from governments, corporations or political parties, relying entirely on individual supporters — a policy designed to protect its ability to confront powerful actors, including donor governments.

Its campaigns focus on the ocean and forest ecosystems it considers most under threat, on climate and energy policy, and on the toxic and plastic pollution of air, water and soil. Direct action — occupying oil platforms, tracking whaling fleets, blocking illegal timber shipments — remains a signature tactic alongside more conventional lobbying and litigation.