Greenpeace has given new meaning to a statue in New Zealand, occupied an airport for 36 hours, and celebrated Valentine’s Day with a political march. Here are a few of our favourite images from Greenpeace work this week. Comment below which you like best!

New Zealand – Greenpeace Aotearoa turned the iconic Rakaia salmon statue into a cartoon-style ‘dead fish’, adding crosses for eyes and a speech bubble reading ‘Fonterra killed my family’, in a protest over dairy industry pollution. The town of Rakaia had recently made headlines after a local fishing competition announced that they would no longer be competing over fish size due to the drop in salmon numbers. Instead, anyone who caught a fish would be entered into a raffle for prizes.

The Netherlands – Activists from Greenpeace Netherlands occupy the main terminal of Lelystad Airport, Netherlands. The group is calling on the new government to cancel plans for opening the airport to commercial leisure traffic.

Closing Lelystad Airport creates space for something much better. The activists are visualising this through an artwork made of Post-its in the main building. On these Post-its, alternative plans for the airport are written, submitted by people via an idea box.

France – Greenpeace France proclaims its love for places embodying values ​​threatened by the rise of the far right.

One month before the municipal elections of 15 and 22 March 2026 (a crucial vote for the future of local solidarity), Greenpeace France volunteers mobilised on Valentine’s Day to publicly affirm their commitment to places essential to local life: spaces of solidarity, culture, rights, and ecology.

They aim to raise public awareness of a major political issue: the rise of the far right and its concrete consequences on local life.

The volunteers went to Place de l’Amarre and the Grand Marché in Toulon to talk with passersby.

Italy – On the day of the first meeting of the ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza, Amnesty International Italy and Greenpeace Italy brought a giant screen in front of government building (Palazzo Chigi) and the Ministry of Defense (Farnesina Palace), displaying images of Israeli bombings since last October’s ceasefire agreement, to denounce the continued violations of the truce in the Gaza Strip. The screen also displayed messages such as: ‘Does this look like a truce to you?’, ‘130 days of ceasefire, 600 Palestinians killed’, and the demands of ‘Enough weapons to Israel’ and ‘Stop the genocide in Gaza’ addressed to the Meloni government and the international community.

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.

On 24 February 2026, the world marks the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While global headlines are filled with news about negotiations and attempts to inspire hope for peace, the Greenpeace Ukraine office is experiencing Russia’s so-called “peaceful intentions” firsthand. For several months now, staff members have had only a few hours of electricity and heating per day, often without hot water, without the ability to use elevators, or to cook meals for themselves and their children.

From day one, Russia’s colonial war has been aimed at destroying Ukraine’s existence as an independent and sovereign state with its own culture and language, deliberately targeting  civilians, homes, cities, and critical infrastructure. Today, in the 12th year of Russia’s war and the fourth year of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine is facing the deepest energy crisis in its history – a crisis deliberately and systematically created by Russian attacks.

Energy grid strikes are no accident

Since the start of 2026 alone, 217 attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have been reported. In January Russia fired more than 6,000 attack drones, around 5,500 guided aerial bombs, and 158 missiles of various types at infrastructure. Thermal power plants, substations, and district heating facilities are repeatedly targeted by Russian missiles and drones. 

These strikes are not accidental – they are part of a deliberate strategy of energy collapse. The goal is simple: to leave people without light, heat, and water, to turn winter into another front of the war, and to force Ukraine to surrender.

While repairs continue, frequent power disruptions leave many families in freezing conditions in the coldest winter in more than a decade. In many Ukrainian cities with district heating systems, electricity is supplied for only a few hours a day, often at night. Businesses, hospitals, schools, and public spaces are forced to operate at the edge of their capacity or shut down altogether, as diesel generators cannot sustain 12–15 hours of continuous operation. At the same time, air raid sirens, drones, and missiles have become the background of everyday life for millions of people.

We need a decentralised and renewable energy system

It is precisely in this darkness that Ukraine has gained a very clear understanding: a centralised energy system based on nuclear generation, Russian gas, and fossil fuels is highly vulnerable to war. By contrast, decentralised renewable energy solutions with energy storage save lives.

During Russia’s war against Ukraine it became clear that green technologies are no longer just about climate, environmental protection, or cost savings. In Ukraine, they have become a matter of survival, security, and resilience. Decentralised solar panels, heat pumps, batteries, and autonomous power systems have proven their effectiveness in the most extreme conditions. They work when the centralised grid is destroyed. They are harder to eliminate with a single strike and much faster to install or replace. They provide heat, light, and water where it may seem that nothing is left.

Patients in hospitals and outpatient clinics can receive vaccinations and medical care on time. Children in schools and kindergartens have alternative power for learning and for staying in shelters – they can wait out danger in warmth and light. Residents of multi-apartment buildings have reliable heat from the energy of the earth. Green solutions are already working today, offering support and hope in extremely difficult times.

Green energy solutions are generating hope

That is why Greenpeace CEE continues to work in Ukraine during the war. We remain here because this work is critically important right now. Since 2022, our international team, together with local communities, partners, and donors, has been implementing renewable energy projects – from solar systems for medical facilities to comprehensive solutions for communities.

One of the most striking examples is the green reconstruction of a multi-apartment building in Trostyanets – a city near the Russian border that suffered occupation and destruction. Today, this building is the first multi-apartment residential building in Ukraine where both space heating and hot water supply are provided exclusively by heat pumps. For us, this is not just a restored building. It is a practical model of Ukraine’s future energy system – decentralised, resilient, and secure. 

Towards energy security and peace

Ukraine’s experience clearly demonstrates that renewable energy is not something for “after the war” or “when things get better.” It is a solution that must be implemented during war if we want to protect people and reduce society’s vulnerability to violence and authoritarianism. Every solar panel, every heat pump, every battery energy storage system is a step towards energy security, independence, and peace.

We believe that Ukraine’s future is green, just, and safe. That is why we stay here, work here, and will continue to do so – together with people who prove every day that even in the darkest times, it is possible to build light.

At the same time, we call on the entire world:

• Stop consuming and buying Russian gas – it fuels war and killing.
  
• Stop doing business with the nuclear blackmailer Rosatom – it must not build new nuclear power plants in Europe and must be punished with sanctions.
  
• Increase pressure on Russia’s shadow fleet so that it cannot finance new missiles and drones.

Today, every country, every government, and every conscious individual can help bring real peace closer.

The campaign to end fossil fuel sponsorship of the Olympic Games has escalated rapidly in recent weeks, placing the International Olympic Committee (IOC) under growing public pressure.

It began with a simple question: How can a company whose core business is fuelling the climate crisis, sponsor the Winter Olympics, an event that depends on stable snow and ice?

Greenpeace Italy launched a satirical video exposing the contradiction at the heart of Eni’s sponsorship of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Eni is one of the biggest oil and gas companies in the world. 

It highlighted the absurdity of a fossil fuel giant associating itself with winter sport while its emissions contribute to shrinking snow seasons and melting glaciers. 

It struck a chord. The video, which generated over 3.5 million views across digital platforms, was shared by professional athletes Swedish skier Emelie Forsberg and British ultra runner Damian Hall, and triggered widespread international media coverage.

Talking FACTS, not feelings 

The satire is backed up by science. As things are, by the 2080s more than half of suitable locations will be unable to host the Winter Olympics, according to a rigorous 2024 scientific study commissioned by the IOC. 

Eni’s annual fossil fuel emissions could melt enough glacier ice to fill 2.5 million Olympic swimming pools, according to research that shows that for every 1 kg of CO2  we put into the air, we eventually lose about 15.8 kg of glacier ice.

Shortly after the video release, Greenpeace Italy took the message to the streets of Milan. In Piazza Duomo, activists installed Olympic Rings appearing to drip oil. The visual was stark and deliberate. The Olympic Rings should represent excellence and respect. Instead, they are being used to soften the image of a company whose business model depends on expanding oil and gas production. The installation again drew extensive global media attention.

At the same time, Ski Fossil Free, led by Norwegian skier and filmmaker Nikolai Schirmer, delivered a petition with more than 21,000 signatures, including Olympians, to the IOC. Separately, a campaign led by athletes by For Future Games called for an end to fossil fuel sponsorship. Greenpeace supporters have also mobilised in large numbers, adding their voices to the demand through a petition.

When the issue was raised directly with IOC President Kirsty Coventry at a daily press briefing, rather than engaging with the substance of the concerns, Coventry responded with general statements that the IOC is always trying to do better and that she welcomes athletes having a voice.

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Welcoming athletes’ voices is not the same as responding to them. Athletes, fans and winter communities are asking the IOC to end partnerships that allow fossil fuel corporations to use the Olympic brand as a tool for greenwashing. To sidestep that request while praising participation is not leadership. It diminishes the severity of the concerns being raised.

Eni’s history of greenwashing 

Eni’s role in the climate crisis is real and undisputed by anyone not in the pocket of Big Oil. Oil and gas corporations like Eni reportedly spend tens of millions of dollars on sporting sponsorships to distract from the environmental damage caused by their operations. 

Greenpeace Italy is currently being sued by Eni after stating that the company harms people. That statement was based on a Greenpeace Netherlands calculation that Eni’s self reported 2022 emissions could cause 27,000 excess deaths due to increased temperature alone before the end of the century. Instead of addressing the evidence, Eni has turned to legal intimidation.

Against this backdrop, fossil fuel sponsorship of the Winter Games makes a mockery of the Olympic values of respect for people and the environment. The climate crisis is already placing mountain communities and winter tourism under strain. The ski industry supports millions of livelihoods across Europe, and 60 million Europeans ski each year. Without a rapid transition away from fossil fuels, winter sports face an existential threat.

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Public concern is not limited to a single action. In Milan, Greenpeace Italy joined a broad coalition of civil society groups at a protest rally highlighting the unsustainable nature and climate impact of the Games. Greenpeace’s message from that demonstration was clear: ‘Protect the integrity of the Olympics. Do not allow them to become a platform for polluters.’

Stop Eni’s Olympics sponsorship

From the outset, Greenpeace International and Greenpeace Italy have offered the IOC a constructive path forward sending them an open letter. The Olympic movement has previously shown leadership by banning tobacco advertising. It can do so again by ending fossil fuel sponsorship across all Olympic and Paralympic Games. The IOC occupies a unique position of global influence. Choosing integrity over greenwashing would send a powerful signal far beyond sport.

Oilympics: The Games on Thin Ice

Fossil fuel companies are greenwashing their image by sponsoring big sporting events to hide their destruction. Don’t let them get away with it.

Add your name

Eni is responsible for its pollution. But the IOC is responsible for the partners it chooses. By continuing to accept fossil fuel sponsorship, it risks becoming complicit in polishing the public image of companies whose core business threatens the future of the very Games they sponsor. The question now is simple: Will the IOC listen to athletes, fans and scientists and end fossil fuel sponsorship? Or will it continue to shelter planet heating corporations behind the Olympic Rings?

Martin Zavan is a freelance communications specialist with Greenpeace International, based in Sydney, Australia.

This blog was edited on 19 February 2026 to reflect that the ‘Oilympics’ video garnered over 3.5 million views and not nearly 7 million views as originally reported.