Norwegian Sea, Arctic — While conducting a scientific survey of vulnerable and unexplored deep-sea ecosystems along the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge, Greenpeace [1] deployed an underwater robot from 2,300 meters below the surface, in the deepest banner protest ever made from the seabed demanding global leaders: LISTEN TO THE SCIENCE!

Photo and video available here.

Dr. Sandra Schöttner, Chief Scientist for the Deep Arctic Expedition, Greenpeace International said: “This marks the deepest banner protest in history, to speak for ecosystems that have no voice of their own. World leaders have already promised to protect 30 percent of the oceans, now they must listen to the science and actually do it. We cannot meet our global goals if we also allow industrial exploitation of unexplored and vulnerable ecosystems in the deep sea. It is high time that leaders keep their promises and give the oceans a chance to recover.”

The banner was brought down to 2315 metres below sea level by the expedition’s remotely operated vehicle – ROV Holly – and held up in front of the hydrothermal vent field called “Loki’s Castle”, a unique volcanic ecosystem where black smokers are emitting 300–320 °C fluid from deep within the ocean crust. Scientists believe our own distant ancestors may have looked just like the microbes living on structures like these, making Loki’s Castle a “cradle” of complex life that could hold the key to how life on Earth once started.

The Arctic is one of the most rapidly changing regions on Earth due to climate change, and as the industrial frontier expands toward the deep sea, through threats like deep-sea mining, Greenpeace warns that these unique ‘biodiversity hotspots’ are at risk of irreversible disruption.

Dr. Sandra Schöttner said: “It is not too late to act. Science clearly predicts the limits of what our planet can endure, but human action determines our survival. By safeguarding these deep-sea ecosystems within a global network of ocean sanctuaries and establishing a moratorium on deep sea mining, we can create a resilient safety net for marine life, and protect the health of our global oceans for generations to come.”

The Deep Arctic Expedition brings together world-leading scientists to explore Arctic seamounts and hydrothermal vent fields – all while livestreaming the science from the Arctic seabed on Greenpeace International’s youtube channel. The area of the expedition was opened for deep sea mining by the Norwegian government in 2024, but the plans were halted last year after protests from environmental organisations, fishermen, scientists and the green opposition parties in Norway.[3] Deep sea mining would, according to many scientists, cause irreversible damage to vulnerable deep-sea ecosystems, including the destruction of habitats, and possibly species extinction.

Greenpeace is calling on world leaders to honor global climate targets, implement the UN Ocean Treaty to protect 30% of the global ocean by 2030, and establish an immediate moratorium on deep-sea mining.

ENDS

Photos, video and maps of Greenpeace’s Arctic Deep expedition are available in the Greenpeace Media Library.

Join the Arctic expedition Whatsapp channel for updates and divestream notifications. Watch the divestreams on Youtube.

Notes:

[1] Greenpeace International, Greenpeace Germany and Greenpeace Nordicare leading the Deep Arctic Expedition from 8 May – 5 June
[2] Deep-sea mining: Norway halts controversial practice until 2029 (Euronews) 

Contact:
Daniel Bengtsson, Communications Lead Onboard, Greenpeace Nordic, +46 70 300 9510 (Whatsapp/Signal), daniel.bengtsson@greenpeace.org

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org 

We are almost halfway through the year, events both positive and negative rock the world. Environmental issues have never been separate from politics, economics, or human rights, and this year has underscored how deeply they are interconnected. The realities of war, attacks on activism, waste from fast fashion, environmental resistance, and the accelerating impact of the climate crisis cannot be ignored. There is no better time to come together as communities to seek accountability, and as countries to transition to green energy, than now.

To help you stay up to date with everything you might have missed since the beginning of the year, here’s a list of some of the most read pieces on our website so far in 2026.

War and the environment

As wars rage on in Ukraine, Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, it is clear that conflict is not only an immediate human tragedy, marked by bombardments, forced displacement, famine, sexual violence and constant terror, but also an environmental one, with impacts on public health, ecosystems and the climate that extend far beyond the frontlines and can leave entire regions uninhabitable for decades after the weapons fall silent.

Readers engaged deeply with how the US-Israel war on Iran and how war and conflict are destroying the environment and how oil tankers stuck in the Strait of Hormuz south of Iran threatens the Gulf ecosystem with the potential to leave ecological destruction that could last generations. These pieces highlight how war accelerates climate vulnerability while disrupting communities already facing environmental injustice.

Why nuclear power is not the way

Nuclear power is often hailed as a magic bullet solution for the rapid and large-scale decarbonisation of our societies which we all know needs to happen if we have any hope of mitigating the worst effects of the unfolding climate emergency. Here are six reasons why nuclear power is not the way to a green and peaceful zero carbon future.

A just and green transition is possible

Coverage around renewable energy and the green transition also ranks highly among our audience. Readers are drawn to stories exploring what a fair and just transition could look like. As countries debate how to move away from fossil fuels, here is a visual journey into China’s green transition.

“We Will Not Be Silenced” — environmental activism in the courts

The past two years have seen many climate justice cases at the courts. The surge of climate cases in front of local and international courts and tribunals is only increasing, and the courts are making pivotal decisions.

As climate movements gain momentum globally, lawsuits and political pressure against campaigners have also intensified. A key corporate intimidation tactic is a type of predatory lawsuit known as a SLAPP – Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. US pipeline giant Energy Transfer has been waging repeated abusive SLAPP lawsuits against Greenpeace in the US and Greenpeace International for nearly a decade. Big Oil companies Shell, Total, and ENI have also filed SLAPPs against other Greenpeace entities in recent years.

The legal fight continues. In February 2026, a North Dakota District Court returned a US$345 million judgement against Greenpeace in the US and Greenpeace International. The Greenpeace entities continue to pursue justice, filing a motion for a new trial and, if necessary, appealing to the North Dakota Supreme Court . This is What a US$ 345 million judgment means for Greenpeace. 

Fast fashion and consumerism 

Fast fashion will never be green, and here are 4 reasons why.

Fast fashion’s impacts on people (consumers and workers) and the environment have become harder to hide. But fast fashion brands continue to greenwash instead of acknowledging that their business model is inherently destructive and making the necessary changes. The interest in these articles suggests a shift, forget about the price tag, this is the hidden cost of fast fashion.

Environmentalism – for the people and planet

In 2025, Greenpeace scientists and specialists from the Radiation Protection Advisors team embarked on a six-week tour on-board the Rainbow Warrior, Reflections from a Greenpeace nuclear specialist highlights one of the most disturbing chapters in human history in the Marshall Islands.

Since 2018, this article on a brief history of environmentalism by Rex Weyler reflects on the roots of activism, environmentalism, and Greenpeace’s past, present, and future.

Speaking of the future, the AI boom is being sold as inevitable progress, but the real question is not whether artificial intelligence can do useful things in theory. It is who owns it, who profits from it, what it is mostly being used for, and who pays the environmental and political bill when the hype turns into microchip manufacturing plants, data centres, rising power demand, water stress, surveillance and attacks on democratic life. This blog on the energy and environmental impact of AI and how it undermines democracy highlights just that. 

Deforestation and industrial livestock agriculture expansion continue to tear down forests, land and water resources. The Amazon Forest is home to 10% of all known species of animals, these animals face an uncertain future. Here’s a definitive guide to the animals of the Amazon Rainforest who rely entirely on the rainforest for food, protection, and life itself.

Deep in the oceans, the threat of deep sea mining compelled Pelenatita Kara, the National Deep Sea Mining Coordinator for the Civil Society Forum Tonga, to write a letter to Gerard Barron, CEO of The Metals Company, the frontrunner company in starting deep sea mining in the Pacific Ocean. She confronts the CEO on his total lack of regard to human and business integrity, locking my country in a difficult financial position and opening it up for exploitation

Plastics, climate crisis and community action 

Unsurprisingly, what science says about microplastics and chemicals in ready meals ranks among the most-read pieces, this piece details what science says around reheating plastic food containers and the long-term human health impacts.

Not all hope is lost, communities are organising, organisations collaborating to resist and bring polluters to account and unmask the real faces behind corporations playing with our lives in the shadows. 

In true Greenpeace spirit we remain committed to bearing witness and exposing environmental injustice through the images we capture. Every week, we highlight our favourite images from Greenpeace work around the world, through the Greenpeace Pictures of the week segment.

The climate crisis is a present reality, these articles reflect the intersectionality of climate impacts across health, resources, weather and our collective future. Governments aren’t acting fast enough to reduce our exposure and protect their people. There’s no shortage of things we can do to improve this situation. The most critical one is to make laws and take action for the people and not for profits.

Get Involved

We act with hope and determination. We take on the impossible. We are everyday people connected around the world, embarking on a billion acts of courage.

Join us today

Autumn 2023.

That was when everything began. Two weeks after the first rounds of mutual shelling started on 8 October 2023, waves of forced displacement from the villages along Lebanon’s border strip intensified. The villages bled dry of their residents, and press reports documented thousands of displaced people every day. By the end of the year, dozens of Lebanese villages were deserted. And before the media began framing it as a “war,” more than 90,000 people had already been driven out of their homes and villages by Israeli attacks.

Ruin spread, black as a cloud.

Human displacement and environmental destruction 

It wasn’t until autumn of 2024 that the media began framing events as war. However, from the humanitarian and environmental standpoints, what local and international media had now begun describing as a war was, in fact, a massive expansion in the scale of destruction that had followed exchanges of fire on 8 October 2023.

In practice, what this meant was that the border villages of South Lebanon were no longer alone in their tragedy. The rest of the villages in the governorates of the South, Nabatieh, and the Bekaa joined them, and soon the war reached the heart of the capital, Beirut, and its suburbs, and touched all Lebanese territory. The cloud gradually widened: No longer a phantom haunting the edges, it had become a beast on the attack. Rockets and shells rained down from every direction. Yaroun, Deir Seryan, Maroun al-Ras, Aita al-Shaab, Blida, Mays al-Jabal, Houla, Khiam, and other villages were left on their own, without their people, to face the war and the attempts at forgetting. It was not possible for their names to be dropped from circulation, because land, wherever it faces colonialism, defends itself by itself, with its name, its history, and its memory.

On 27 November 2024, a ceasefire agreement entered into force. Residents returned and saw the destruction up close. During that period (from October 2023 to end November 2024), and before the return of war and displacement on March 2 of the current year (2026), southerners counted the losses and pain they had endured. Data in my report focuses on this first period (8 October 2023 to the end of November 2024) for which more definitive figures and statistics are available. Yet war renewed in the winter of 2026, and this second period (from 2 March 2026), marked by intense suffering and solidarity, is still ongoing. To this day, war continues, against the plains, the valleys, the rivers, the mountains, the trees, and all sources and sustainers of life (even solar panels).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Greenpeace UK (@greenpeaceuk)

White phosphorus: Fire in the soil

Upon contact with oxygen, white phosphorus ignites. It keeps eating into the skin until it reaches the bone. On October 16, 2023 according to Amnesty International, the Israeli army launched an indiscriminate attack on the border village of Dhayra, after which nine people were taken to hospitals with cases of suffocation. A month later, the village of KfarKila saw the same scene, with the same weapon. White phosphorus seeks no specific target because, quite simply, and in the literal sense of the word, it burns everything.

It does not stop at killing innocent human beings. As UN Habitat details, phosphorus leaves behind scorched soil poisoned with chemical particles that remain active after the bombardment, destroying vegetation cover, causing direct contamination of crops and water sources, accelerating soil erosion, and driving biodiversity into decline. As for the toxic smoke it releases, and the fires that follow it, they act like arms gripping the neck of the ecosystem, slowly choking it. After the repeated white phosphorus attacks, the fields and woodlands in the two villages turned into pale, charred expanses, unable to return to what they had been for many long years. Amnesty again documented phosphorus attacks, internationally prohibited, on the villages of Mays al-Jabal to the east and Aita al-Jabal in the centre. And as happens in most wars of extermination, the perpetrators always seek to push the world into growing accustomed to the crime.

International law bans the use of white phosphorus under Protocol III of the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, yet evidence of Israel’s unlawful use of white phosphorus in Lebanon abounds. And while the world went on with its life, the outlines of an ecocide were taking shape in South Lebanon, in parallel with genocide unfolding in Gaza. 

An official report by Lebanon’s National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS-L) revealed that soil exposed to phosphorus does not undergo blanket contamination so much as an uneven “map of damage” grows within it, forming in hot spots, which dispels the idea of uniform poisoning and points to a more complex and dangerous pattern. Clearly, the figures reveal the degree of deterioration: phosphorus concentrations reached 1,858 parts per million in some sites in South Lebanon, reinforcing the hypothesis that white phosphorus bombs were used. Chromium concentrations exceeded permitted limits in 45% of the samples, and 59% of these exceedances were classified as “very high,” while zinc exceeded allowed levels in 22% of the samples, and copper in 9% of them. Beyond that, lead contamination was detected at a single isolated site in the Bekaa town of Boudai in eastern Lebanon, reaching 230 parts per million.

Figures like these do not point to chemical pollution of an ordinary degree, rather, they indicate a reshaping of the very structure of the land itself, at a deep level.

Woodlands erased with villages and farms causes immediate harm and represents a long term environmental threat

In satellite imagery, the villages have been erased, as if they never stood. Rubble upon rubble. No memories, no stories, no shared life that once bound the residents to the place. Residents following events with a mix of anxiety and pain say that all the roads have been bulldozed, with no trace left of the olive groves that bore witness to the lifetimes of Lebanese villages. Olives are part of South Lebanon’s identity, as the region produces around 38% of the country’s olive harvest overall, more than a third. Yet Israeli attacks have burned and bulldozed no fewer than 65,000 olive trees, including ancient ones.

Losses mount with each passing day. Recovery on the environmental front cannot be equated with infrastructure repair or financial restitution, difficult as those undertakings certainly are. According to recommendations issued in official Lebanese reports, recovery must be approached as a long process, in the face of deep environmental damage that has affected forests, agricultural lands, and existing ecosystems. We are speaking of woodlands fires, chemical pollution that has ravaged the soil, as well as contaminated rubble. All of this is not merely a temporary consequence of war, but it represents a long-term environmental threat.

Ecosystems are far more than just beautiful natural scenery. They form a basic economic infrastructure, tied to agriculture, health, and social stability. For this reason, destruction is not confined to demolished buildings. It goes beyond visible damage to a hidden, long-lasting harm: the disintegration of ecosystems and the loss of their ability to endure. According to Lebanese state estimates, environmental damage has kept on spreading across a wide geographic area, especially during periods of intensified military attacks, with the most severe impacts recorded in South Lebanon and Nabatieh Governorate.

The forestry sector’s disaster extended beyond the burn zone. Basic environmental and economic functions collapsed. The burning of woodlands’ cover led to direct losses in resources, including pine production and firewood generated through traditional forest management, with the cost estimated at around 6 million US dollars. But the deeper loss lies in the destruction of vital environmental services, including soil protection, the preservation of biodiversity, and the regulation of the local climate. In this sense, the affected areas did not lose trees alone, they lost the lines of defense that had protected surrounding communities from erosion, drought, and gradual environmental collapse.

Across coast and hills: A quarter of the land in flames

Let’s not forget that these figures do not constitute a final assessment of the situation. Conditions continue to deteriorate in both the agricultural and livestock sectors, according to official Lebanese statements. The livestock sector has suffered heavy losses, including the death of around 1.8 million heads of poultry and livestock, in addition to more than 29,000 beehives and over 2,000 tons of fish. To date, the cumulative area of agricultural land damaged by Israeli attacks has reached 22.5% of Lebanon’s farmland, nearly a quarter of the country’s agricultural area. This has had a direct and negative impact on Lebanese food security, with the share of emergency food assistance rising from 17% to 24%, leaving one million people living in Lebanon in urgent need of food supplies.

Small-scale farmers are the most affected. The limited plots managed by individuals or families make up around 80% of total agricultural holdings in the South, which has intensified the war’s impact on rural households and the local economy. This trajectory exposes a brutal dimension of colonial warfare: around 78% of farmers in the South are displaced from their villages and barred from returning, leaving only 22% able to remain on their land. The sea too is in mourning: 26 boats lie sunk within it.

Managing the rubble

Rubble is not simply debris. It is not just what remains, but what has been violently undone. The debris left by the war has become something like a “second disaster,” not only because of its sheer scale, but because of its capacity to generate long-term pollution. According to preliminary data, the volume of rubble (up to the end of 2024) was estimated at around 16 million tons, equivalent to roughly 10 million cubic meters of debris weighing down the natural landscape. 

Simply clearing it away is not enough. The debris, and what accumulates above and beneath it, constitutes a direct environmental threat, as it may contain asbestos, lead-based paints, silica dust, and heavy metals. The random dumping of such materials in valleys, forests, and agricultural lands can contaminate soil and water and fragment ecological habitats.

At the time of preparing this report, 40 temporary storage sites had been identified. It must be stressed that any delay in transporting the rubble to final, regulated sites will increase the likelihood of it becoming a permanent part of the landscape. That would amount to yet another disaster. 

Proposals are under discussion at the planning and implementation levels based on a model of “circular recovery,” aimed at turning rubble from an environmental burden into a reusable resource. The Lebanese Ministry of Environment has put forward a plan to recover and recycle around 70% of the debris, with 30% of inert materials to be used in rehabilitating damaged quarries across 17 potential sites for final disposal and restoration (including 4 public and 13 private sites), with priority given to public ones. However, this transition depends on the early sorting of hazardous materials and on organised management that avoids improvised solutions. By early this year, the total cost of debris management was estimated at around 145 million US dollars. 

Regardless of the figures (which will likely far exceed that amount) reconstruction alone, or the mere removal of rubble, will not restore life. What is required is a rethinking and redesign of the relationship between infrastructure and the environment on more sustainable foundations.

During 45 days of war, up to the end of 2024, the war on Lebanon had completely destroyed 21,700 housing units, while another 40,500 units were damaged. Although homes are not environmental structures in themselves, no account of a recovering land is possible without acknowledging those who return to it, and whom it, in turn, receives: people who know the land and are known by it. As the war intensifies, with a sharp rise in figures compared to pre-March 2, 2026, there is still no definitive data on the current number of housing units destroyed in South Lebanon, despite figures circulating in the media, as the war has not ceased.

From an environmental standpoint, the only possible response is continued monitoring, alongside sustained warnings about the ecocidal impact of the ongoing military operations on the ecosystems of southern Lebanon. As for the consequences, they continue to intensify relentlessly, mirroring the grief of residents confronted with the ruins of their lives scattered across their villages.

Stand With Families Forced to Leave Their Homes

Greenpeace MENA is supporting the Lebanese Red Cross in their humanitarian effort.

Donate Today

Zeinab Othman is a Digital Content Editor for Greenpeace Middle East and North Africa (MENA) based in Beirut, Lebanon.

This article is based on official publications issued by governmental institutions and non-governmental organisations. It was originally published by Greenpeace MENA on 19 May 2026.

A dark cloud over Amazon, a billionaire flyby, and the deep arctic explored. Here are some of our favourite images from Greenpeace work around the world this week.

Ireland – Greenpeace International activists flew a ‘Stop the Billionaire Takeoff’ message near Energy Transfer executive chairman Kelcy Warren’s Irish estate Castletown Cox in County Kilkenny to call attention to this Big Oil bully’s widely reported takeover of the nearby Waterford Airport, which he is expanding to allow the use of his private jet.

The Arctic – An underwater ROV (remote operated vehicle) is launched from a research vessel at Bamboo Coral Garden in the Arctic. Greenpeace is currently on expedition in the Arctic and will use underwater cameras to gather and document scientific evidence of the diversity, distribution and connectivity of fauna in Arctic deep-sea ecosystems in the mining area – with particular focus on vulnerable, rare, endemic and undescribed species – in order to trigger international, regional and national conservation protocols.

The Arctic – Images of underwater inhabitants of the Deep Arctic, captured during the current expedition. Pictured in order:
– Male sea spider, Boreonymphon is a genus of marine arthropods known as sea spiders (class Pycnogonida).
– Calanus finmarchicus is a species of copepod crustacean and an essential component of North Atlantic marine ecosystems, serving as a primary food source for fish, seabirds, and whales.
– Crinoid, a deep-sea echinoderm related to sea stars and sea urchins.

U.K. – Greenpeace UK Activists transform a roundabout outside the front entrance of Syngenta’s HQ into a giant hazard symbol carrying the message “Syngenta poisons nature” with an arrow pointing directly at Syngenta’s building. Greenpeace has accused Syngenta of driving wildlife decline and threatening UK food security by making and selling pesticides that poison British wildlife. A recent Greenpeace report found that just one teaspoon of the Syngenta-made pesticide, Hallmark, was enough to kill 13 million bees.

Turkey – Greenpeace Türkiye has published a report on “The hidden costs of coal in Türkiye”. Greenpeace activists showcased the facts revealed in the report and their call for a coal phase-out through a clean graffiti project in various neighbourhoods of Istanbul. Through a graffiti project where pressurised water cleansed specific sections of dirty surfaces to reveal the message, the demand “Phase out coal now!” appeared on the streets of Istanbul’s Kadıköy, Üsküdar and Rumeli Hisarı districts.

Germany – Greenpeace Germany activists protest against Amazon cloud provider AWS’s unscrupulous business dealings with controversial companies at the “AWS Summit” held at the Hamburg exhibition halls, installing a sculpture of a globe controlled by servers in front of the trade fair building, on which installed screens display scenes of human rights violations and environmental destruction that could be caused in a similar manner by business partners of “Amazon Cloud Services.”

Belgium – Greenpeace Belgium activists are taking action during DEME’s annual shareholders meeting in Zwijndrecht. They urge the company and their shareholders to stop investing in deep sea mining.

Greenpeace has been a pioneer of photo activism for more than 50 years, and remains committed to bearing witness and exposing environmental injustice through the images we capture.

To see more Greenpeace photos and videos, visit our Media Library.