By Burcu Ozer

ISTANBUL

Greenpeace's legendary ship Rainbow Warrior III, which plays a key role in campaigns on the prevention of environmental crimes around the world, has anchored in Istanbul on September 6.

The ship, which arrived in Turkey for the first time, aims to raise awareness on the harmful effects of coal thermal power plants in the country and to bring attention to the Turkish government’s responsibility in taking more action on the environment.

For two weeks, the ship will sail around Turkey highlighting environmental issues to inspire communities and citizens to act together to protect the environment, especially to take action on the harmful effects of coal thermal power plants in the country.

As the captain of the Rainbow Warrior III, Peter Henry Willcox, also campaigned in Turkey 20 years ago against the unsafe disposal of irradiated coal. 

"The fact is, Turkey is at an important turning point in its history, but the 80 new coal projects is poised to turn Turkey into the fourth largest coal threat in the world, and coupled with its nuclear projects, poses a serious cause for concern for Turkey’s future," Willcox said.

According to the Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Ministry, Turkey's domestic resource potential is 15.4 billion tons of coal and of this total, 14.1 billion tons is lignite. 

Turkey has about 34 percent of world's total lignite reserves (377 billion tons of world lignite reserves) making it a middle-level country in terms of lignite reserves and production, but the country has lower-levels in hard coal on a world-wide scale.

Willcox stated that  the coal threat in Turkey is not only a climate change issue but also a public health issue. 

"Each day is precious, and every day that the health effects of coal take away from us is one day that wouldn't have been lost in a world that champions renewable energy."

"It is my sincere wish that at this important turning point in its history, decision makers will make the move to renewable energy and ensure the health and environment of the people in Turkey," he added.

Turkey has recently been improving the construction of coal-burning plants with the aim of reducing its large dependency on natural gas.

According to a statement by Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz in 2013, the country aims to generate one-third of its electricity through coal by 2023 by raising the local coal-fired power plant’s capacity to 30,000 megawatts in the next 10 years. 

However, visitors to the Rainbow Warrior ship are indecisive about the harmful effects of coal thermal power plants.

"Actually, I know coal has many disadvantages as well as advantages, because among the fossil fuels, coal is the most widely used fuel in power plants," said one visitor to the Rainbow Warrior, Gozde S., a 28-year-old engineer from Istanbul. She said greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mining destruction and emissions of harmful substances are the damage the coal power plants produce. "But to be realistic, our country depends on coal for its energy and it will take tens of years to increase the usage of renewable energy."

"We cannot deny the reliability, affordability and the abundance of coal. But of course raising awareness is the initial mission of all of us as world citizens," she added.

Hakan Emir M., a 25-year-old postgraduate student from Istanbul's Bilgi University, said he prefers the coal fired plants to nuclear power plants. "We have much more important issues than coal thermal power plants, for example nuclear energy."

"I think coal thermal plants are safer than nuclear power plants. A coal power plant's failure will certainly not cause calamitous events like a nuclear accident would. We should firstly react against nuclear energy" he said. 

"The Rainbow Warrior has played a pivotal role in instigating environmental action around the world for years, from nuclear testing in the Pacific, to blocking coal ports, to tracking illegal fishing vessels. The ship has been recognized as a global icon fighting for environmental justice for more than 35 years," Willcox told Anadolu Agency.

As well as being a passionate Greenpeace activist, Willcox is best known for captaining the first Rainbow Warrior when it was bombed and sunk by French agents in 1985, and since then he has captained the subsequent Rainbow Warrior ships.

Willcox said the Rainbow Warrior has an instrumental role in every issue that Greenpeace campaigns on - to bear witness and raise awareness against environmental crimes. 

"What we do is to prop up these campaigns and bring them to the attention of decision-makers at key turning points thereby championing the cause of people willing to stand up for what they believe in," he said.

The latest ship replaced the second Rainbow Warrior which retired from her Greenpeace mission in 2011. The Rainbow Warrior III ship took to the seas in October 2011 as one of the most environmentally-friendly ships ever made.

The ship, which is the first Rainbow Warrior ship that has not been converted from another vessel, primarily uses wind power, and can store up to 59 cubic meters of grey water and black water to prevent the need for disposal at sea.

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