Here in Denmark, we are often celebrated globally for our green ambitions. But beneath the surface of the landscapes I call home, a toxic secret is seeping into our groundwater. Today, a massive people-powered movement is rising up to challenge the powerful meat and dairy industry, which is also at the centre of water pollution fights far beyond Denmark, from Brazil’s Amazon to Aotearoa New Zealand and many European countries.

Earlier this week, on March 24th, my fellow Danes and I headed to the polls in a highly contested national election that has become known as the “Pig Election.” At the heart of the debate is something fundamental to human health: our drinking water.

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For half a century, successive governments have allowed the industrial agricultural lobby giant, today called Landbrug & Fødevarer (Danish Agriculture & Food Council), to dictate environmental policy through weak, voluntary agreements.

Here in Denmark, as well as anywhere else from the Amazon to Aotearoa New Zealand, Big Ag has privatised the profits and left everyone else to pay the price. Here they have quite literally forced the public to swallow the pollution, handing taxpayers a clean-up bill of 645 million Danish kroner, or about US$ 100 million. This is the extractive industry’s playbook worldwide. But the people of the Danish “bacon country” have had enough.

The tipping point in Denmark’s water crisis

To expose this health-threatening corporate greed, activists from Greenpeace Denmark executed a surprise dawn stunt at Landbrug & Fødevarer headquarters in Copenhagen. Activists redecorated the lobby giant’s facade, replacing their polished corporate advertisements with huge, red hazard symbols.

High above on the roof, activists dressed in suits and pig masks symbolically “produced manure” on portable toilets, reading the lobby’s own fabricated news.

We have campaigned relentlessly against this corporate capture for decades, alongside scientists, communities and citizens who refuse to accept polluted water as the price of doing business. The historic mobilisation we are seeing today is a powerful testament to every activist, scientist, and citizen who refused to give up the fight.

The result of this decades-long corporate negligence? Toxic pesticide residues are now found in over half (55.7%) of Denmark’s drinking water wells. Massive amounts of nitrate from industrial manure are leaching into the groundwater, significantly increasing the risk of colorectal cancer for our local communities.

Why this is bigger than Denmark

What is happening in Denmark is not an isolated fight, but part of a much broader global struggle over who gets to control food systems, water and public health. Big Ag desperately tries to paint environmental action as unpopular, but the numbers tell a different story.

A staggering 95% of the Danish public is now demanding better protection of our drinking water, and 9 out of 10 voters support a ban on pesticides, on top of our groundwater, according to a recent opinion poll. This is no longer a niche environmental issue.

People across the world have had enough of Big Ag. From soy-driven deforestation in the Amazon to battles over industrial dairy and nitrate pollution in other countries, more and more communities are rising up to protect their water, land and health from corporate exploitation.

Drinking water and the treatment of pigs became the defining issue in the Danish election. There is now a large parliamentary majority that has promised to implement the ban on using pesticides on top of our groundwater, that the Danes have demanded. And there is a large majority in favour of reducing the health limit for nitrate in our drinking water, which will protect people from increased bowel cancer risk.

We will hold the new Danish government accountable to the mandate the Danes have given, and we will be paying close attention to see that the promises made during the election actually turn into real change.

Clean water needs a different food system

We need a food system that works with nature, not against it. We are fighting for a transition to ecological farming, a future where food production nourishes both people and the planet, where rural communities thrive, and where access to clean, unpolluted drinking water is a human right.

That means confronting the global model of industrial meat and dairy production that drives water pollution, climate emissions and deforestation across borders. When communities stand together, Big Ag loses its power. The Danish elections prove that systemic change is politically viable when we demand it with a unified voice. It is time to move beyond symbolic gestures and build the power needed to protect our homes.

Industrial agriculture is destroying our planet and our health, no matter where you live. You are part of a winning, global movement, and it is time to act.

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Christian Fromberg is a Political Campaigner at Greenpeace Denmark.

ARUSHA, Tanzania – Greenpeace Africa has submitted an amicus curiae brief before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR), arguing that climate destruction is a systematic, ongoing violation of the rights of people across the African continent.

“This case is about justice for frontline communities already bearing the costs of a climate crisis they are least responsible for,” said Eugene Perumal, Governance and Legal Advisor at Greenpeace Africa. “Across the continent, communities are already living with the consequences of decisions made without their consent. We are asking the Court to affirm that governments must protect people and to draw a hard line against this ongoing corporate impunity.” 

The submission situates the climate crisis within a broader pattern of extractive economic models imposed across Africa, from fossil fuel extraction to mining, deforestation and industrial agriculture. Greenpeace Africa argues that these industries threaten the rights to life, health, food, water, and a healthy environment, and that governments have binding duties under the African Charter to prevent harm, ensure transparency and public participation, and provide remedies to affected communities.[1]

Greenpeace Africa argues that allowing multinational corporations to expand without meaningful environmental safeguards constitutes a fundamental failure of the State’s duty to protect the rights to life, health, and a satisfactory environment.

The submission also highlights the growing risk posed by industrial livestock expansion – a relatively new but rapidly emerging threat on the continent. Unlike traditional pastoralist and smallholder systems, industrial meat production concentrates environmental damage, drives deforestation, and shifts control of food systems away from local communities toward multinational corporations.

As part of this broader trend, the brief references the planned expansion of JBS, the world’s largest meat company, into Nigeria. The proposed US$2.5 billion investment in industrial meat processing illustrates how global agribusiness is seeking to establish a foothold in African markets, raising concerns about environmental impacts, lack of public consultation, and the long-term implications for local food systems and livelihoods.

Invoking Article 21(5) of the African Charter – which obliges States to “eliminate all forms of foreign economic exploitation, particularly that which is practised by international monopolies” –  the submission argues that the facilitation of extractive corporate expansion, without transparency, public participation, or environmental impact assessment, constitutes a direct failure of its duty to protect. 

The submission draws the landmark precedent of  SERAC v. Nigeria (2001), arising from Shell’s catastrophic oil operations in Ogoniland, which established that states have a positive duty to regulate corporations, conduct and publish impact assessments, and guarantee meaningful community participation before major industrial development proceeds. 

Elizabeth Atieno, Food Campaigner at Greenpeace Africa, said:

“The projects being approved today will determine who controls our land, our food systems and the health of our planet in the future. We look to the Court for a powerful advisory opinion that cements the rights of African communities to say no to extractive agriculture, and sends a definitive message to corporate exploiters that their time for operating with impunity on this continent is over.”

ENDS

Notes:

[1] For a summary of what the African Court heard on Monday 30 March, see Greenpeace Africa release. For access to Greenpeace Africa’s Amicus Curiae submission to the African Court please contact Greenpeace Africa via the contact information below.

This proceeding is part of an unprecedented global quartet of parallel advisory proceedings before the world’s four highest international courts, expected to produce the most authoritative rulings on climate and human rights law in history.

Contacts:

Ferdinand Omondi, Communications and Story Manager at Greenpeace Africa, +254 722 505 233, fomondi@greenpeace.org 

Joe Evans, Agriculture Global Comms Lead at Greenpeace UK,  +44 7890 595387, jevans@greenpeace.org

Greenpeace Africa Press Desk: pressdesk.africa@greenpeace.org 

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

This past week, Greenpeace Spain and other Greenpeace offices around the world have been involved in a week of activities as part of the Global Housing Action Days project, an initiative aimed at drawing attention to the importance of safe, affordable, sustainable housing on a liveable planet. 

Here’s why this issue is so important.

A home is much more than a roof over our heads. Our homes are the bedrock upon which we build our sense of safety and stability, protect and care for our families and loved ones, and form communities around us. Beyond secure access to housing, secure tenure and basic services, homes must protect us from energy price shocks and energy poverty – and be part of the solution to the climate emergency. Poor energy efficiency in our homes and fossil fuel dependence for heating and cooking worsen both energy security, and the climate crisis.

1. Limiting global warming to 1.5°C is essential to keep our planet habitable

To mitigate the worst impacts of the climate crisis, we must quickly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This means stopping the burning of gas, oil and coal – in short, all fossil fuels – and reducing energy demand through improved home insulation. The good news is that it is possible. We have plenty of solutions for improving energy efficiency in homes, the only thing missing is the political will to support and implement these solutions.

2. Homes can be part of the solution to the climate crisis

Many homes in Europe are still dependent on gas for cooking or heating – making buildings both a cause of the climate crisis and part of the solution. Moving our building stock away from dependency on gas means that, instead of being major emitters of greenhouse gases, buildings can get their energy from renewables and feed it into the grid. At the European level:

• Buildings consume 40% of all gas in Europe (much of it imported from countries like Russia, the US and other non-democratic countries that fuel wars).
• 33% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions come from homes, due to gas, oil and electricity used for heating, cooling and hot water.

3. Our homes are a public health issue

For example, in Spain, 20.8% of the population lives in energy poverty (defined as spending more than 10% of household income on energy bills), almost double the European rate of 10.6%. This means many people cannot adequately heat their homes in winter – due to high energy prices, poor thermal efficiency and limited incomes – nor can they adequately cool them in summer, when tens of thousands heat-related deaths occur in the EU each year.

4. Our current housing system continues to generate profits for polluters, tyrants and speculators

Energy prices have risen by an average of 66.3% in Europe between 2021 and 2025. While fossil fuel companies declare multi-million-dollar profits and their executives pocket eye-watering bonuses, Europe becomes increasingly dependent on a constant supply of expensive fossil fuels from abroad. This policy allows leaders like Putin or Trump to expand their energy domination, politically subjugate the EU and its countries through energy blackmail and fund their geopolitical games, including war. All of this while we keep wrecking the planet by burning gas.

Beyond that, our homes have become a financial asset for billionaires’ profits and massive touristification, putting demand and prices out of control and making access to housing an impossible dream for millions of people.

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5. There are solutions – and there is money

European governments should refurbish homes to create zero-emissions buildings that generate their own clean energy from renewables, such as heat pumps and shared photovoltaics with neighbours and the wider community, and prioritise vulnerable groups so that they reap the benefits of the transition.

A key step to make this a reality is to implement a fair tax on the super-rich and their real estate financial vehicles. This could unlock resources for a green future for all by funding the transition to sustainable heating and cooling in people’s homes.

For all these reasons, the housing, cost of living and climate crises are interlinked. We need large-scale home refurbishment to free us from gas and guarantee access to decent, affordable, sustainable and cosy housing for all.

We need policies that protect people, not the profits of polluters and speculators.

To protect people, the planet and peace, governments must break free from their reliance on fossil gas imports and ramp up efforts to support sustainable home refurbishment.

A fair and green future is within reach. We must stop letting billionaires profit from destruction and start making them pay for solutions.

Maria Prado is the Campaign Coordinator at Greenpeace Spain

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Fossil-fuelled fighting, Trumpified towers, and pooping piggies, here are a few of our favourite images from Greenpeace work around the world this week.

Namibia – Four activists from the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior paint ‘THEY PROFIT, WE PAY’ down the side of the hull of the gigantic PetroJarl Rosebank FPSO, off the coast of Namibia. The Rosebank project is a planned offshore oil and gas development west of the Shetland Islands in the North Atlantic.

Belgium – Activists project a golden facade and the words “TRUMP TOWER” onto the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, mimicking one of President Trump’s skyscrapers, with a Greenpeace message urging EU leaders meeting to stop capitulating to his demands. The Greenpeace Belgium activists were protesting the EU’s continued dependence on the US for oil and gas imports, the removal of protections for the environment, public health and privacy, and the lack of resistance to the US’s breaches of international law.

Namibia – Greenpeace activists protest a gigantic ship on its way to tap new oil as part of the Rosebank development. The Rosebank project is a planned offshore oil and gas development west of the Shetland Islands in the North Atlantic. It is the largest undeveloped oil field in the UK, containing roughly 300–500 million barrels of oil equivalent. PA major partner in the project is the Israeli fossil fuel company Delek.

Denmark – Three piggy activists, dressed in black suits and pig masks, sat on toilets on the roof of the Danish Agriculture & Food Council, the country’s largest agricultural lobby. Meanwhile, other activists dressed as lobbyists ‘redecorated’ the headquarters’ windows with large, red poison symbols, highlighting the health risks of drinking water contaminated with pesticides and high nitrate levels. The action is part of Greenpeace Nordic’s response to the Danish federal election which occurred this week and saw industrial pig farming and its impact on drinking water become one of the main issues of the election.

Germany – Nine activists are protesting for stronger climate action and greater energy independence ahead of the expected cabinet decision on the Climate Protection Act. On a 100-square-metre banner hung from a construction crane next to the Federal Chancellery in Berlin, the activists are demanding in German: “Freiheit statt fossile Politik”, –“Freedom instead of fossil fuel policies”.

USA – On the opening day of Nvidia’s GTC (Global Technology Centers) conference, Greenpeace USA drove a triple-billboard truck to deliver a direct message to CEO Jensen Huang: ‘Hey Jensen, your graphics processors that are fuelling the AI boom are overheating. So is the planet.’

Netherlands – With a massive projection on the Eye film museum in Amsterdam, Greenpeace Netherlands calls on the government to impose an extra tax on the war profits of oil and gas companies. According to Greenpeace, the proceeds should be used to compensate lower-income households for their energy bills and to accelerate the transition to solar and wind energy in order to end the dependency on fossil fuel industry.

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.