Over the summer, Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Greenpeace UK conducted a survey of major UK grocery retailers, their use of single-use plastic packaging and their targets to reduce it. 14 responded including all 10 of the largest supermarkets, and 4 leading convenience store operators.

The results, to be released in November, are expected to reveal the volume of single-use plastic packaging each retailer puts onto the market every year, their targets to reduce plastic packaging and their approach to tackling plastic pollution across their supply chains.

The detailed survey, which is believed to be the largest-ever survey of UK grocery retailers and plastic will provide a benchmark for current commitments and actions on curbing plastic pollution. As well as collecting data about volumes of plastic and reduction targets, the survey intends to look at how retailers are planning to meet their targets and to reveal some of the challenges faced by retailers and solutions that are being developed. The results will also highlight where further innovation is needed.

Chair

Ben Webster

Ben Webster is environment editor at The Times, covering the most important environmental stories in the UK and around the world.

Speakers

Catherine Conway, Unpackaged Innovation Ltd.

Catherine set up Unpackaged in 2006 as the world’s first modern zero waste shop. Not only has Unpackaged pioneered a new, desirable, sustainable category in modern retailing; but Catherine’s passion for developing systems to enabling refilling and reuse, within various food sectors has enabled many other businesses to create real and lasting change.

Sarah Balch

Sarah is Senior Ocean Campaigner at the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and leads the joint campaign calling on UK supermarkets to reduce their plastic footprint, as well as working on EU and UK policy. Sarah has 10 years’ experience in the environmental sector, with recent areas of work including campaigning for the UK microbead ban, the EU circular economy package and plastic strategy, and UK marine and waste policy.

Elena Polisano

Elena is an oceans campaigner at Greenpeace and leads the campaign calling on UK supermarkets to reduce their plastic footprint. She has been at the forefront of Greenpeace’s creative interventions aimed at some of the world’s biggest companies, and recently led the organisation’s campaign that helped secure the government’s commitment to a deposit return scheme for drinks containers in England. Prior to Greenpeace, Elena was an advertising creative.

The screening on Monday 14 September at the Frontline Club lived up to its bold name. How to Change The World, directed by Jerry Rothwell, journeys to the beginnings of the environmental movement and organisation, Greenpeace. As heartwarming as it is harrowing, the film is an homage to non-violent activism. From the bomb tests of Amchitka to whale and seal poaching in Alaska, How To Change The World chronicles the journey of a small group of friends in Vancouver who attempted to do just that. The film’s executive producer Stewart Le Marechal joined the Frontline Club audience for a discussion following the screening.

Stewart Le Marechal

Comprised mainly of archive footage from the 1970s, the documentary also includes present day interviews with the eclectic founding members of Greenpeace. These two elements are bound together by the writings of Bob Hunter – former journalist and reluctant leader of the group – which provide narration throughout.

Le Marechal spoke of the scale of their project over the eight years it took to develop: “In the archive in Amsterdam there were 15,000 cans of film and 50 hours of audio. What was kind of amazing was that a lot of this stuff has not been looked at for 40 years.”

The film chronicles the group of environmental activists as they venture boldly into the unknown, more often than not on a boat. Their lack of practical experience is made up for by no shortage of enthusiasm and an abundance of quirky humour – a clear advantage when it came to the essential appeal of their campaigns.

Although the film contains much humour, it does not shy away from including the power struggles that threatened to dissolve the movement. Hunter and his team are depicted both as vulnerable heroes exposed to  harrowing situations and as victims of their own sensitive group dynamic.

As the story developed, the depth of the rift between members became abundantly clear. Perhaps the biggest dilemma of all was whether or not to unite the Greenpeace groups that had sprouted up independently. Was simply bearing witness to the crimes they saw enough? For some yes, but for others it was only the motivation to go much, much further. For Paul Watson in particular, who describes himself as the “most extreme” of the group, this was certainly the case. He clashed with Patrick Moore, who would later come to denounce much of Greenpeace’s work.

When asked how the filmmakers managed to engage all the protagonists to participate in the interviews, Le Marechal said: “Even though they are at different ends of the spectrum, they all have a genuine love for Bob and wanting to honour him through this documentary.”

He emphasised their role as documentary filmmakers rather than dramatists, and commented that it was important “to represent all their voices so they could get a fair hearing.”

Le Marechal explained how impressed he was by the many interviews conducted: “These people that had done these crazy things 40 years ago, seeing how they felt about it now and how they see what they did.”

The Greenpeace movement coincided with the beginnings of electric communication, and Bob Hunter was immediately very perceptive of its power. He thus revolved his brand of activism around capturing a premeditated shot; with this he created “mind bombs.”

An audience member asked Le Marechal: “Do you or any of the other filmmakers have any goals or hopes that this will spark another resurgence of action?”

He responded that they primarily wanted to bring this story to life but, “Heck, if it inspires someone then that’s fantastic.”

The film ends with a look to the next generation of ecological activists inspired by Greenpeace, notably Hunter’s daughter who lovingly continues her father’s work.

Click here for more information about How to Change the World and upcoming screenings.

How to Change the World chronicles the adventures of an eclectic group of young pioneers – Canadian hippie journalists, photographers, musicians, scientists, and American draft dodgers – who set out to stop Richard Nixon’s atomic bomb tests in Amchitka, Alaska, and end up creating the worldwide green movement.

Greenpeace was founded on tight knit, passionate friendships forged in Vancouver in the early 1970s. Together they pioneered a template for environmental activism which mixed daring iconic feats and engagement with worldwide media: placing small rubber inflatables between harpooners and whales; blocking ice-breaking sealing ships with their bodies; spraying the pelts of baby seals with dye to make them valueless in the fur market.

The group had a prescient understanding of the power of media, knowing that the advent of global mass communications meant that the image had become a more effective tool for change than the strike or the demonstration. But by the summer of 1977, Greenpeace Vancouver was suing Greenpeace San Francisco and the organisation had become a victim of its own anarchic roots, saddled with large debts and frequent in-fighting.

How To Change The World draws on interviews with the key players and hitherto unseen archive footage, which brings these extraordinary characters and their intense, sometimes eccentric and often dangerous world alive.

Directed by: Jerry Rothwell
Produced by: Al Morrow & Bous de Jong
Year: 2015
Running time: 110′

As part of an ongoing collaboration between the Frontline Club and The Scientific Exploration Society, on Tuesday 9 June BBC Science editor and author David Shukman chaired a discussion examining the past, present and future of the Arctic. Joining Shukman was a panel of experts and an engaged audience of Arctic explorers and enthusiasts.

Andrew Mitchell, chairman of The Scientific Exploration Society, introduced the event. “The idea we had was: why don’t we bring together explorers and journalists who work at the frontline and debate important issues of the day.”

The role of research in the Arctic was discussed in depth, as panelists commented on the colossal volume of knowledge still left to uncover.

Co-director of the Grantham Institute, winner of the Martha T. Muse Prize for Excellence in Arctic Science and Policy, and fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Professor Martin Siegert commented, “as a glaciologist, we are concerned that with global warming and ice sheet melting there is a serious problem ahead for global sea level change, sea level rise.”

He continued: “We still really don’t know an awful lot about the topography beneath the large ice masses on the planet. So our models of projections are fundamentally weakened by that lack of knowledge. It’s a very fortunate position to be in as a scientist. It probably won’t be like this in 20 years… because scientific discovery can only be done once.”

L-R: Frank Hewetson, Charles Emmerson, David Shukman, Martin Siegert, Pen Hadow

The discussion covered the developments over time of the safety of explorers who travel to the region. Despite numerous technological advances, the Arctic climate and consequent harsh conditions remain severely dangerous for human visitors.

Pen Hadow – Arctic Ocean explorer and advocate; the sole person to have reached the North Geographic Pole solo; and founder of the Caitlin Arctic Survey – told audience members that “the six things that are likely to kill you are going to kill you in minutes. It’s immaterial whether you have a phone or a plane on standby.”

He added: “the effect of cold on brain function… it is just like being drunk. The more hypothermic you are, the less able you are to be creative, to think clearly, to anticipate the problems.”

Frank Heweston, who has worked on the Arctic campaign with Greenpeace for over five years, commented: “things go wrong quite quickly… anything at sea, especially the Arctic, has to be taken extremely seriously.”

#WorldOceansDay @frontlineclub @SES_explore @davidshukmanbbc @PenHadow wrapping up gr8 #exploration of #Arctic event! pic.twitter.com/VdnBpspf0O

— Peter Kohler (@P_Kohler) June 9, 2015

The increase in tourism was a source of concern for the panel, who offered differing perspectives on the potential results.

Shukman commented that he was “struck by this increase in tourism… The sheer ease with which people can now visit the Arctic with preconceived notions.”

Author of The Future History of the Arctic and associate fellow at Chatham House, Charles Emmerson, said “there are clearly risks to travel in the Arctic, but generally I think it’s a very good thing for more people to see the Arctic… I think it informs people. It gives them the encouragement, the idea that it’s something worth protecting and thinking about.”

Hadow added: “We have to get over this idea that the Arctic is beautiful… We’ve got to de-romanticise it… The Arctic Ocean is an asset ultimately, it’s providing a critical ecosystem service to the North Hemisphere.”

“It could be this year that the North Pole is a puddle… Apparently it’s one of the worst years so far for melting sea ice. Maybe the tourist element will go. There’s no point in visiting open ocean, you can do that anywhere,” added Siegert.

The panel then looked ahead to the future of the Arctic in 30 years time.

Heweston offered a grim prediction. “The militarisation of the Arctic will have happened by then. The drive for further fossil fuel exploration will probably not be stopped… I cannot see that there won’t be some type of military conflict.”

Siegert added: “We will see continued ice sheet retreats and glacier melting… Sea levels go up and the rate of change will be increasing as well.”

The discussion drew to a close with a final audience question, on the subject of what can be done to help on a micro level. The panelists agreed that it was necessary for everyone to take an individual role in monitoring and reducing their own carbon footprint in order to collectively contribute to the safeguarding of the Arctic.

https://soundcloud.com/frontlineclub/third-party-event-broken

Organised by the Greenpeace Energydesk

With the UK’s Energy bill on the verge of coming before parliament and world leaders preparing for the latest climate summit, this time in Doha; some are worrying about the ability of a struggling media to play an effective role in the debate on energy and the climate.

As the press struggles to recover from a collapse in advertising during the recession and the damage done by the phone hacking scandal and subsequent inquiry the discussion will examine the challenges facing journalists reporting on an area of great scientific and economic complexity. The event will ask what impact those challenges have on the wider policy debate over energy and climate change and what – if anything – should be done to improve the discussion on this crucial area.

Chaired by editor of the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, an expert panel will be exploring whether our journalism is up to the debate over energy and climate change.

With:

Angus McCrone, chief editor of Bloomberg New Energy Finance. He works closely with BNEF’s 120-strong team of analysts and researchers covering sectors such as wind, solar, biofuels, carbon and energy-smart technologies, also writes and presents on a wide range of topics including overall clean energy investment, project finance, public markets and policy-making.

Ben Webster, media editor of The Times since July 2011. He joined The Times in 1998, working on the newsdesk from 1998-2000 as night news editor and then assistant news editor. He was Transport Correspondent from 2000 to 2009 and Environment Editor from 2009 to 2011.

David Kennedy, the chief executive of the Committee on Climate Change. Previously he worked on energy strategy at the World Bank, and design of infrastructure investment projects at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He has a PhD in economics from the London School of Economics.

Dr Alice Bell, senior teaching fellow at Imperial College London and writer interested in science in society. She has taught science communication at Imperial College London and UCL and is currently based at the former, running a course on energy and climate change.

Tom Burke CBE, environmental campaigner and founder of E3G (Third Generation Environmentalism). He is environmental policy adviser to Rio Tinto and visiting professor at Imperial College London and University Colleges, London.  He is a Senior Business Advisor to the Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative on Climate Change. He has recently been appointed to the External Review Committee of Shell. He is formerly the executive director of Friends of the Earth and an advisor to three Secretaries of State for the Environment.

By Mariah Hamalainen 

 “We are facing a complete collapse of ocean ecosystems, globally”, said Professor Charles Sheppard at the Frontline Club on Wednesday evening during a panel discussion on the state of the world’s oceans.

The oceans have been exhibiting the effects of global warming since the late 1970s and a quarter of all coral reefs have died but there has been little awareness of the crisis among the media and the public in general until recently.

High-profile campaigns including Hugh Fearnley–Whittingstall’s Fish Fight and Project Ocean at Selfridges are encouraging people to take a look at the state of the oceans and what can be done to reverse the evident collapse of this delicate ecosystem.

The panel discussion – chaired by Guardian’s environmental correspondent Fiona Harvey – took the audience through many aspects of the destruction of this vital resource: Overfishing; pollution; climate change and global warming; overpopulation; greedy multinational fishing companies; destruction of coral reefs.

“Half of the humanity lives within a hundred kilometres from the ocean” professor Sheppard said. Although millions of people derive their livelihood directly from the oceans, little is done to stop the destruction.

“We in Britain don’t [yet] directly see the problem. We have Tesco’s between us and the environment.”

Greenpeace’s Richard Page shed light on some of the positive developments on the ocean front, as well as what needs to be done to safeguard the future of the global waters;

“The single most effective tool against ocean destruction is the creation of marine reserves” he said.

He also called for the media to play their part in mobilising the public;

One of Greenpeace’s victories was the moratorium on whaling. This could not have been done without the media; when people saw the pole being stuck on a whale it had an immediate impact. The media has an incredibly important part to play if we are to save our oceans.

The panel strongly agreed that consumer power cannot be underestimated:

“Change in demand from consumers would have a huge impact” Dr Alex Rogers said. 

Lobbying for policy changes, demanding that the fish we eat is from sustainable fisheries, and reducing the overall impact we have on the planet are all steps towards the right direction.

As Professor Sheppard said: “If we manage the oceans well, it is food for free”.