This is quite impressive. In the short time the High Arctic Sanctuary Campaign petition has been up (it was officially started on 21 June 2012 in Rio during the Rio+20 Earth Summit) it has reached 957,699 signatories.

Greenpeace says:

Come with us to the North Pole. When we reach 1 million signatures we’ll plant your name and a Flag for the Future on the bottom of the ocean at the top of the world.

Lucy tweeted today

 

 

WHAT IS THIS ABOUT?

Image634783327239042968At a press conference at the UN Earth Summit in Rio this morning (at approximately 01:30hrs NZ time), New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless launched an ambitious plan to declare a global sanctuary in the High Arctic.

She revealed the plan alongside entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, and Greenpeace International's Executive Director Kumi Naidoo.

One of the key steps of the plan is to gather a million signatures on a scroll, and place them in an indestructible pod on the sea floor, four thousand metres below the North Pole.

Lawless joins Sir Paul McCartney, Penelope Cruz, Robert Redford, Jude Law, the world's biggest boy band One Direction and dozens of other famous names in demanding that the uninhabited area around the North Pole be legally protected and made off-limits to polluters. Other signatories include, Pedro Almodovar, Thom Yorke, Emily Blunt, Baaba Maal, Javier Bardem, Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel and some of China's most famous musicians. The list includes nine Oscar winners, ten Golden Globe winners and five Grammy Award winners (details below).

Right now the huge expanse around the Pole belongs to all of us because it's defined in international law as the high seas, and underneath it is the deep seabed which is the common heritage of all mankind. But as temperatures rise due to climate change, and the ice melts, the Arctic states are making territorial claims on the seabed so they can open the door to the oil giants. The Arctic sea ice has retreated dramatically in recent years and scientists say the North Pole could soon be ice-free. (1)

The Arctic is crucial to avoiding a state of runaway climate change, as it acts like the Earth's refrigerator, keeping the planet cool by reflecting the sun's energy off its surface.

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See more on the AUSXIP Lucy Lawless Arctic Sanctuary Support Page for more news, photos, video and other multimedia

See more of Lucy's role as an Eco-Warrior and Greenpeace Ambassador






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