Making the world a better place, one controversy at a time - Unit 3

C2 Proficiency · Gapped Text · Close-up C2 Workbook, National Geographic Learning

You are going to read an extract from a magazine article. Seven paragraphs have been removed from the extract. Choose from the paragraphs A-H the one which fits each gap (1–7). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.

Making the world a better place, one controversy at a time

Sloppy mistakes aside, the organisation has also come under criticism for its specific positions. In the case of genetically modified foods, a practice Greenpeace is vehemently against, 107 Nobel laureate scholars actually penned a letter to Greenpeace urging it to change its stance. They cited scientific evidence of the safety of GM foods for farmers and consumers alike, and that not one single negative incident has resulted from the cultivation and consumption of such products.

In fact, media outlets the world over have given Greenpeace an enormous amount of attention for its outlandish stunts. In one case, members produced a fake website for an oil company with articles about their inaugural drilling in the Arctic. The website fooled many people and was a blatant criticism of the oil company's practices, but critics were quick to pounce on its misleading premise.

A report was filed in 2006 by a public watchdog suggesting that the company was exploiting its status as a non-profit organisation and falsifying its financial returns. Greenpeace was audited, but its books turned up clean. Subsequently, it was disclosed that the watchdog who blew the whistle had accepted a substantial donation from a gas and oil corporation, one of the entities Greenpeace fights against.

The organisation was founded upon its ability to directly confront its opponents. Across the globe in Alaska some decades before the whaling incident, a group of Canadian activists sailed to Amchitka, an island in Alaska's Aleutian island chain. The US government intended to detonate an atomic bomb on the uninhabited island, ignoring warnings of seismic activity and the tsunamis it could trigger.

Although they have cut back considerably on their presence in the Antarctic Ocean, Greenpeace's efforts to protect these majestic sea mammals stretches back decades. The organisation, which began in 1971, embarked in the mid-1990s on a mission to establish Antarctica as a world park. Although eventually successful, when Japan's whaling fleet appeared in the late 1990s under the guise of 'scientific research', it was clear a loophole had been exploited.

Predictably, they have faced some criticism, as underscored by the Tokyo Two incident. Lawsuits have been filed against them for destroying fields of genetically modified crops and harassing fishing expeditions. They entered into a row with the Finnish government when they transported the trunk of a fallen tree to exhibitions to highlight the effects of logging there. And occasionally, the organisation's members make blunders that sully Greenpeace's image.

Although the police launched an investigation into the whalers' actions, no charges were brought against them. Instead, they charged the activists and even mistreated them during their detention. The pair were denied legal representation and interrogated for a relentless 12 hours. The activists were even branded as terrorists and egregiously compared to a doomsday cult that released poisonous gas in a Tokyo underground station.

As a testament to their work on these issues, Greenpeace successfully raised awareness of global warming in the 1990s. They ideally had an impact on the Japanese whaling industry, as the fleets have all but left Antarctica. Their revelations that major corporations were linked to tropical rainforest destruction resulted in policy changes in those companies. Their efforts in ridding the world of weapons of mass destruction and stopping the genetic modification of crops has so far been less successful.

In 2008, renegade Greenpeace activists Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki seized a container of whale meat from a delivery depot in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. They believed that the meat was procured from government whaling vessels reserved and was destined for sale in Japanese restaurants, a practice publicly condemned by the Japanese government. The confiscated carcass raised controversy for the government, which hastened a cover-up, characterising the meat as 'a souvenir' of the whalers. However, it was the fate of Sato and Suzuki which seemed particularly unjust.

The pair didn't expect to be celebrated for uncovering the government's scandal, but they were nonetheless surprised by the outcome of their actions. Ultimately the men were sentenced to one year in prison, which the judge mercifully suspended for three years. Unfazed, Sato expressed no regrets. 'Because of our care, many inside Japan are now aware of the whaling industry's kickbacks and embezzlement,' he remarked in an article he wrote for a British newspaper.

In an attempt to bypass regulations, the government stipulated that the exploration could only be funded by sales of whale meat. But few had the wool pulled over their eyes: and fleets of Greenpeace vessels showed up to confront the Japanese whaling ships. Dramatic scenes of ships a tenth the size of the government's fleet were broadcast in the news. Only years later did the Japanese government finally curtail their 'research', partly due to the Tokyo Two's exposé, and partly because of Greenpeace's involvement.

Dubbed the 'Don't Make a Wave' campaign, the activists reached the US coastguard ship Confidence, which ordered them to retreat. The mission went ahead as planned, and although disheartened, the activists learnt that their endeavours had garnered worldwide attention. In realising that such extreme measures can have a global impact, the group began raising funds in order to campaign for environmentalism. Greenpeace was born.

One such incident involved the Nazca lines in Peru. In an attempt to hang a banner protesting against climate change, activists damaged the UNESCO World Heritage site by walking on an area not open to the public and leaving visible footprints. The organisation was forced to issue an apology; one Peruvian official were unwilling to accept.

While it may hold firmly to perhaps unpopular positions such as this, there is no doubt that Greenpeace strives to do good. Their mission centres around achieving a number of goals related to climate change, which tops their list, but also the protection of natural habitats, the fight against deforestation, nuclear disarmament and the promotion of sustainable agriculture.

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