POLO NORD – Una bandiera di titanio piantata a quattro chilometri di profondità sul fondo dell’oceano, nel punto più a Nord del Pianeta. Dopo quasi otto giorni di cammino sui ghiacci artici gli attivisti di Greenpeace hanno raggiunto il Polo Nord geografico e, dopo aver praticato un buco nello strato di ghiaccio, hanno calato una capsula di titanio e vetro sul fondale con la bandiera.
Insieme ai rappresentati delle comunità indigene dell’Artico, con questo gesto gli attivisti hanno simbolicamente reclamato l’area come patrimonio di tutta l’umanità, chiedendo l’istituzione di un Santuario Globale per la protezione dell’Artico. All’interno della capsula ci sono i quasi tre milioni di nomi di coloro che, in ogni parte del mondo, hanno firmato per difendere l’Artico dalle esplorazioni petrolifere e dalla pesca industriale ed eccessiva. Una telecamera installata sulla capsula ha registrato le immagini della discesa sul fondale. Tra i membri della spedizione anche Ezra Miller, attore statunitense (Io sono infinito) che nel corso della cerimonia ha dichiarato: “Piantando questa bandiera speriamo di ispirare all’azione i giovani di tutto il mondo, così come i loro governi, affinché proteggano l’ultimo paradiso incontaminato del Pianeta. Siamo qui per dire che quest’area dell’Artico non appartiene né a governi né a multinazionali, ma è patrimonio comune dell’umanità e che le compagnie petrolifere non possono metterlo in pericolo”.
Nell’ultimo anno sono stati moltissimi i personaggi del mondo degli affari e dello spettacolo a sostenere la campagna Save the Arctic di Greenpeace, tra questi anche Paul McCartney, Penelope Cruz e Richard Branson. Recentemente anche l’Arcivescovo Desmond Tutu ha espresso il suo appoggio per la spedizione, dicendo: «Offro il mio appoggio incondizionato a questi giovani che sono arrivati fino al Polo in nome di coloro le cui vite vengono ogni giorno sconvolte dai cambiamenti climatici.» Questa spedizione è parte della campagna globale di Greenpeace per proteggere l’Artico. Approfittando dello scioglimento dei ghiacci dovuto al cambiamento climatico, compagnie petrolifere senza scrupoli come Shell, Gazprom e Stato il stanno sviluppando programmi per la ricerca di petrolio senza preoccuparsi delle conseguenze sul fragile ecosistema artico.
En route to the North Pole. Kiera Kolsen from Canada, an Arctic ambassador with the Team Aurora keeps pace on the trek with Greenpeace. Greenpeace is on a mission to protect the Arctic carrying a specially designed time capsule that contains a 2.7 million signature declaration demanding that the Arctic be designated an internationally-recognised global sanctuary.
Aerial view of Greenpeace encampment in the high Arctic. The team is on a to trek to the North Pole, carrying with them a time capsule containing 2.7 million names of supporters who wish to protect the Arctic. They plan to lower the capsule and a flag for the future to the seabed beneath the North Pole.
Renny Bijoux (from the Seychelles), an Arctic ambassador with Team Aurora, crosses an open lead (sea ice fracture). Greenpeace on a mission to protect the Arctic is carrying a specially designed time capsule that contains a 2.7 million signature declaration demanding that the Arctic be designated an internationally-recognised global sanctuary.
13th April 2013 - The time capsule lowered into the icy waters at the North Pole. A flag is attached to a glass and titanium time capsule containing the signatures of nearly three million people, including actors, musicians, artists and business leaders is planted on the seabed beneath the North Pole. Greenpeace is calling for the region, currently under threat from climate change, oil companies, industrial fishing and shipping to be declared a global sanctuary and free from exploitation.
13th April 2013 - Detail of the time capsule photographed at the North Pole. A flag is attached to a glass and titanium time capsule containing the signatures of nearly three million people, including actors, musicians, artists and business leaders is planted on the seabed beneath the North Pole. Greenpeace is calling for the region, currently under threat from climate change, oil companies, industrial fishing and shipping to be declared a global sanctuary and free from exploitation.
13th April 2013 - North Pole, Arctic - A Greenpeace team prepare a crane to hoist a time capsule to the seabed at the North Pole. A flag is attached to a glass and titanium time capsule containing the signatures of nearly three million people, including actors, musicians, artists and business leaders is planted on the seabed beneath the North Pole. Greenpeace is calling for the region, currently under threat from climate change, oil companies, industrial fishing and shipping to be declared a global sanctuary and free from exploitation.
13th April 2013 - Team Aurora (L-R) Josefina Skerk, a Swedish-Sami student and member of the Sami Parliament in Sweden; Renny Bijoux from Seychelles a nation under grave threat from climate change; 20-year-old musician and Hollywood actor Ezra Miller, star of We Need to Talk About Kevin and The Perks of Being a Wallflower; Kiera Dawn Kolson of the TsoTine-Gwichin nations in Northern Canada prepare to lower the time capsule into the icy waters at the North Pole. A flag is attached to a glass and titanium time capsule containing the signatures of nearly three million people, including actors, musicians, artists and business leaders is planted on the seabed beneath the North Pole. Greenpeace is calling for the region, currently under threat from climate change, oil companies, industrial fishing and shipping to be declared a global sanctuary and free from exploitation.
13th April 2013 -Flags for the future decorate the ice at the North Pole. A flag is attached to a glass and titanium time capsule containing the signatures of nearly three million people, including actors, musicians, artists and business leaders is planted on the seabed beneath the North Pole. Greenpeace is calling for the region, currently under threat from climate change, oil companies, industrial fishing and shipping to be declared a global sanctuary and free from exploitation.
14th April 2013 - North Pole, Arctic - A Greenpeace team prepare a crane to hoist a time capsule to the seabed at the North Pole. A flag is attached to a glass and titanium time capsule containing the signatures of nearly three million people, including actors, musicians, artists and business leaders is planted on the seabed beneath the North Pole. Greenpeace is calling for the region, currently under threat from climate change, oil companies, industrial fishing and shipping to be declared a global sanctuary and free from exploitation.
14th April 2013 - North Pole, Arctic - Underwater picture showing a time capsule lowered to the seabed at the North Pole. A flag is attached to a glass and titanium time capsule containing the signatures of nearly three million people, including actors, musicians, artists and business leaders is planted on the seabed beneath the North Pole. Greenpeace is calling for the region, currently under threat from climate change, oil companies, industrial fishing and shipping to be declared a global sanctuary and free from exploitation.
13th April 2013 - North Pole, Arctic - A Greenpeace team prepare a crane to hoist a time capsule to the seabed at the North Pole. A flag is attached to a glass and titanium time capsule containing the signatures of nearly three million people, including actors, musicians, artists and business leaders is planted on the seabed beneath the North Pole. Greenpeace is calling for the region, currently under threat from climate change, oil companies, industrial fishing and shipping to be declared a global sanctuary and free from exploitation.
13th April 2013 - North Pole, Arctic - A Greenpeace team prepare a crane to hoist a time capsule to the seabed at the North Pole. A flag is attached to a glass and titanium time capsule containing the signatures of nearly three million people, including actors, musicians, artists and business leaders is planted on the seabed beneath the North Pole. Greenpeace is calling for the region, currently under threat from climate change, oil companies, industrial fishing and shipping to be declared a global sanctuary and free from exploitation.
14th April 2013 - North Pole, Arctic - Underwater picture showing a time capsule lowered to the seabed at the North Pole. A flag is attached to a glass and titanium time capsule containing the signatures of nearly three million people, including actors, musicians, artists and business leaders is planted on the seabed beneath the North Pole. Greenpeace is calling for the region, currently under threat from climate change, oil companies, industrial fishing and shipping to be declared a global sanctuary and free from exploitation.
