Greenpeace India is the Indian branch of the global environmental group Greenpeace, a non-profit NGO, with a presence in 55 countries across Europe, the America, Asia. Greenpeace India has legally registered society in four locations with Bengaluru as its headquarters and other branches at Delhi, Chennai, Patna.
Greenpeace India states that it receives 60% of its funding from donors in India, 38% from Netherlands-based Greenpeace International and less than 1% from the US-based Climate Works Foundation, as of from June 2014 the organisation does not receive any foreign funds. According to the organization, they do not accept money from governments, intergovernmental organizations, political parties or corporations in order to avoid their influence. Their core fundraising model is called "Direct Dialogue Recruitment" where the fundraising team goes out on the street directly approaching the common people to discuss the current environmental condition and how Greenpeace is working towards bringing in a positive change. These discussions eventually leads to enrolling the interested person as a donor and a volunteer.
History
The global organization known as Greenpeace today, came into existence in the year 1970 while Greenpeace India has been actively working on following: 2001 – Greenpeace, along with victim workers of Mercury Thermometer factory in Kodaikanal, forced the Hindustan Unilever to shut down the factory. 2001 – Greenpeace exposed the contamination of Pringles Potato Chips and Isomil Baby food with genetically engineered ingredients and questioned India's GMO free status. 2002 – Greenpeace ran a month-long campaign to create awareness on the potential threats of what could have become the first GE food crop in the country, resulting in the rejection of genetically modified mustard. 2003 – Greenpeace forces Hindustan Unilever to collect mercury waste from its shut down factory in Kodaikanal and send it to the US for recycling. 2004 – Bayer pulled out Genetic Engineering Research in India, clarifying its position in a letter to Greenpeace. 2005 – Greenpeace announced in a press conference in New Delhi, that farmers in the Narsampet mandal of Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh were cheated by over Rupees 2 crores because local officials had doctored data of Monsanto's poorly performing Bt cotton varieties. This led to an enquiry and subsequent ban on three varieties of BT Cotton, suspension of Joint Director of Agriculture (JDA) of Warangal district and state acceptance of fair compensation to farmers. 2006 – Greenpeace exposed a scandal surrounding the Indian Government permitting France to dump a ship full of hazardous waste in India. 2010 – Greenpeace through a petition campaign succeeded in including "complete supplier liability" in the Nuclear Liability Bill. 2014 – the organization launched its first solar energy micro-grid, making Dharnai, a village in Bihar, energy independent. 2015 Government of India prevented a senior Green peace activist from travelling to London. April 2015 – Government of India froze its bank accounts and suspended its license for failing to abide by FCRA norms 6 November 2015 – Registrar of Societies (RoS), of Chennai, in the state of Tamil Nadu, ordered de-registration of Greenpeace India citing financial fraud. 21 November 2015 – Madras high court stays cancellation of Greenpeace India's registration, observing that the Tamil Nadu Registrar of Societies (RoS) had not followed principles of natural justice.
Alleged anti-development activities
Greenpeace has been accused of obstructing development activities by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, an accusation which was rejected by the organisation. Greenpeace India has undertaken protests against thermal power, nuclear power, coal and aluminium mining across India. Greenpeace has also been active with promoting Solar energy equipment produced by the US-based Zemlin Surface Optical Corporation, especially in Bihar. Greenpeace India has admitted to anchoring local protests against coal mines and participating in seminars where foreign funding is sought for protests, but has clarified that the source of funding does not lessen the seriousness of harm to the environment.
A report by the Indian Intelligence Bureau accused Greenpeace of posing threat to Indian economic security.