How environmental campaign group Greenpeace was formed
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 23 May 2019
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The environmental campaign group, Greenpeace, was formed in 1971 in western Canada, after a group of activists met in a Vancouver kitchen and decided to sail an old fishing boat to Alaska to stop a US nuclear test. Greenpeace is today one of the biggest environmental organisations in the world, known for its direct action, with offices in over 39 countries. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to one of the founders of Greenpeace, Rex Weyler, about that first campaign.
Picture: Members of the original Don't Make a Wave Committee with Greenpeace skipper John McCormack preparing to sail to Amchitka island to try to stop a US nuclear test, 1971 (Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 1:05.6 | Hello and welcome to the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service. |
| 1:10.0 | I'm Louis Adaggo and today I'm taking you back to 1971 and the formation of one of the largest |
| 1:16.3 | environmental campaign groups in the world. |
| 1:18.8 | Greenpeace, whose name has become synonymous with direct action, today has offices in over 39 countries. |
| 1:25.2 | But it all began in a Vancouver kitchen in Canada when a group of activists decided to use an old |
| 1:31.4 | fishing boat to try to stop a US nuclear test. |
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