14 DAY TRIAL // Just yesterday, the news broke that Russian authorities had finally agreed to grant amnesty to the 28 environmentalists and the 2 journalists that were arrested back in September following a protest against Gazprom and its plans to drill for oil in the Arctic.
One would think that, after all the conundrum it went through over these past few weeks, the organization might want to take a break from protesting drilling in the Arctic and focus on something else instead.
It turns out this is not the case. On the contrary, Greenpeace says that it is more determined than ever to invest time and money in its anti-Arctic drilling campaign, and that its clash with Russian authorities has actually boosted its commitment to this green cause.
According to The Guardian, the current director of Greenpeace UK, John Sauven, maintains that the organization is nowhere near done trying to keep oil and gas giants such as Gazprom from exploiting the Arctic.
What's more, John Sauven argues that, while trying to teach Greenpeace a lesson, Russia only managed to up the organization's popularity all around the world.
Thus, in the aftermath of the arrest of the Arctic 30, over 2.6 million people from as many as 46 countries were quick to show their support for Greenpeace and its work.
What's more, celebs and public figures such as Paul McCartney, Madonna, Jude Law and Ewan McGregor, Angela Merkel, David Cameron, François Hollande, Ban Ki-moon, and Hillary Clinton all took a stand against Russia and spoke in favor of the organization and its Arctic 30.
“The Russians have shot themselves in the foot by massively raising the profile of the campaign. There is huge new awareness of what is happening. Millions more people now know. The idea that these oil companies will go up to the Arctic now in secret is no longer the case,”John Sauven reportedly said in a statement issued shortly after the Arctic 30 were granted amnesty.
“We need to go back there. We have to bear witness and show the risks [to the environment]. We have to end the age of oil, step up the campaign on the alternatives. Ultimately we need to remove the market for oil and end the age of oil,” the environmentalist added.
Talks of bravery and determination aside, it looks like the environmentalists have learned something from their run-in with Russia. Thus, according to John Sauven, the organization has not yet decided whether or not it will try boarding Russian oil platforms in the future.
As John Sauven put it, “ Going to the Arctic is not going to change. That's certain. But we haven't thought ‘what next.’ We haven't thought through whether we should confront Gazprom or Russia again.”