*[Enwl-eng] [press-release] UPDATE: Trekkers depart on North Poleexpedition, aim for Arctic Council meeting

[ENWLine]

*UPDATE: Trekkers depart on North Pole expedition, aim for Arctic
Council meeting*
/Young campaigners will plant flag, declaration on sea bed beneath pole/

London, April 7, 2013 --- A group of young campaigners set off today on
an expedition to help save the Arctic, aiming to also hold an unexpected
meeting with a delegation of influential Arctic officials at the North
Pole later this week.

Sixteen people, including four international youth ambassadors (1) ---
Hollywood actor Ezra Miller, two Arctic Indigenous representatives and a
young man from the Seychelles --- set off from Barneo Base on a ski trek
across the sea ice with Greenpeace to the geographic North Pole.

Shortly before setting off, they learned that members of the Arctic
Council --- the governing body comprised of foreign ministers and senior
officials from Arctic states --- will also be at the North Pole this week.

One of the explorers, Josefina Skerk, a 26-year-old member of the Sami
Parliament in Sweden, sent a letter to Gustaf Lind, Swedish chair of the
Arctic Council's Senior Arctic Officials, requesting a meeting with the
Arctic officials. Mr. Lind accepted the invitation and the groups now
hope to meet at the North Pole, weather permitting.
?
The trekkers are carrying with them a time capsule (2) that contains a
declaration with 2.7 million signatures calling for the Arctic to be
made a global sanctuary. They plan to lower the capsule and a 'Flag for
the Future' through 4.3 km of freezing water to the seabed beneath the
North Pole.

"I'm here with three young people from across the world who each have
connections to the Arctic and it's a great honour to deliver our message
to the council at the place we all wish to protect for future
generations," Skerk said.

"This will be a really grueling expedition and we're all a little bit
nervous right now. But this is a unique chance for us to talk with the
people responsible for protecting the Arctic and we know our supporters
around the world would want us to go for it."

The activists say no one nation should own the Arctic or be allowed to
exploit the melting Arctic sea ice, a crisis created by climate change,
for more of the fuels that caused the melt in the first place. ?

The campaigners now plan to use the unexpected meeting with the Arctic
Council to challenge the council and put forward their demand that the
uninhabited areas around the North Pole be declared a global sanctuary.?
//
*Contact / interview requests
*Jessica Wilson, Greenpeace International Arctic communications, +44
7896 893 118|
Anna Jones, Greenpeace International Arctic campaigner, +44 7717 311 103

*Images
*Images can be viewed at the below link and are available in high
resolution from John Novis at +31 (0) 629001152 or john....@greenpeace.org
http://photo.greenpeace.org/C.aspx?VP3=ViewBox&STID=27MZIFVQYI38&CT=Story

*Video
*Various video elements can be downloaded from our publicly accessible
ftp server. They include a b-roll package of actor Ezra Miller being
trained, profile videos of the three young ambassadors and a video +
b-roll package about the 'Flag for the Future'. This can all be
downloaded from the following ftp location:
?
server: ftp.greenpeacemedia.net
login: dvout
passw: 0utput (first digit is a zero)
folder: 1304_North_Pole_expedition
?For further assistance please contact Maarten Van Rouveroy at +31 646
197 322 or maarten.va...@greenpeace.org
?
*Notes:*
[1] Actor and musician Ezra Miller will be joined by three other youth
ambassadors, each with a different connection to the Arctic. Renny
Bijoux is from the Seychelles, an island nation that could disappear due
to rising sea levels. Josefina Skerk is from the Indigenous Sami
community in Sweden and a member of the Sami parliament. Kiera Kolson is
a young Tso'Tine-Gwich'in woman from Denendeh, Canada. She works to
protect the Arctic with Greenpeace and defends the rights of Indigenous
Peoples.
?
[2] More information on the construction of the time capsule can be
found here:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/the-making-of-an-arctic-time-capsule/blog/44627/




From: "Aaron Gray-Block" <aaron.gr...@greenpeace.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 07, 2013 6:42 PM
Subject: [press-release] UPDATE: Trekkers depart on North Pole expedition,
aim for Arctic Council meeting




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