Greenpeace is taking to the water again, alongside thousands of people, at the Rising Tide People’s Blockade in Muloobinba (Newcastle) on Awabakal and Worimi Country. The climate crisis is escalating and it is no longer enough to simply raise awareness, it’s time to take action. We need courageous, people-powered action.
Newcastle is the world’s largest coal export port, sending out hundreds of thousands of tonnes of coal every day.
In 2025 the Australian government has approved more heavily polluting fossil fuel projects, proposed grossly inadequate national nature laws, and set dangerously weak climate targets. While communities continue to suffer from one climate disaster after another, Australia is still the world’s third-largest fossil fuel exporter with no plan to slow down.
People power
The science is clear that the continued export and burning of fossil fuels is incompatible with a safe planet and a liveable future. So it’s time to send climate polluters and the government a message they can’t ignore: the people are rising up and demanding urgent action.
Rising Tide is one of the world’s biggest people-led climate actions – and collective action (which has always been embedded in Greenpeace’s DNA) has never been more important. The Blockade is an event where grandparents, school students, workers, First Nations leaders, musicians and people from all walks of life gather with a shared purpose. It is a reminder that ordinary people hold extraordinary power when united in purpose.
Right to protest
Greenpeace will be standing together with the rest of the Australian community who refuse to accept a fossil-fuelled future. We are putting our skills, our people and our global platform to work. We champion non-violent direct action, we defend the right to protest and we back communities who challenge the political and corporate inaction that continues to fail us. When authorities attempt to shut down community-led action, it simply proves how critical our climate movement is.
The right to peaceful assembly is a fundamental pillar of a healthy democracy and a basic right of all Australians.
David Ritter, CEO Greenpeace Australia Pacific
The right to protest is under serious threat. Rising Tide has faced political and legal roadblocks and, in 2024, over 170 peaceful protesters were arrested. Greenpeace stands with the many who refuse to be silenced by draconian laws or threats in fighting for a safe climate future.
Fossil-free future
Ultimately we are paddling out to help increase pressure on the Australian Government to commit to a plan for the phase out of coal and gas – one that is fasst but fair, protecting workers, communities, and nature. That means no new fossil fuel approvals, but also a managed wind down of our existing extraction projects. We believe in a renewable, people-powered economy for Australia and the Pacific. Climate justice is not optional, it is imperative and the responsibility is now in all of our hands.
If your heart is telling you the same thing, join us on the beach, in the harbour, or at the protest camp. Bring your kayak, your sunblock and your determination. Together we can fight for the future and show that real change comes from people power, not polluters.