Greenpeace chief on Arctic oil drilling protests: “Our objective is not to delay, our objective is to stop”

Greenpeace leader uses Arctic conference to focus spotlight on activists jailed in Russia | Alaska Dispatch

Naidoo said that protests that even slow activity for a day or two in the Arctic are beneficial, because of the brief window for actual development in the Arctic, which is still ice-choked in winter.

But, he said, “Our objective is not to delay, our objective is to stop.”
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[Josefina Skerk, a member of the Sami people and of the Sami Parliament of Sweden] said that her people are not worried about oil development in her country, but mining is a major concern and one where the indigenous people feel marginalized by the larger Swedish government.

She said that she was unhappy with the level of indigenous representation at the Arctic Circle conference, and that her people were often passed over for consideration on major Arctic issues that could affect them. It’s a story that many of the Arctic’s indigenous populations can sympathize with.

“We’re living cultures,” Skerk said. “We’re not strawberries that need to be preserved.”