Greenpeace Declares Human Existence is 'Under Threat,' Climate Change to Blame

Greenpeace has a new executive director. Kumi Naidoo, a veteran of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and a leading advocate in the battle against global poverty, is the first African, and first person from outside the organization, to be selected to head Greenpeace. His background is in defending human rights, particularly those of people made vulnerable by drought and natural disasters. Though his career has not focused solely on environmental activism, he argues that the division between human suffering and environmental degradation has been erased.

"We are seeing every year now, 300,000 more people dying from what can be described as climate-related impacts," Naidoo explained before adding that the human population on earth is "fundamentally under threat." The environmental work of Greenpeace, he argued, was the perfect compliment to the modern problems facing people around the world. He went on to say that connecting the "existing focus on the environment with human concerns, is...the right thing to do."