Greenspirit Strategies

873 Beatty St, Vancouver, which houses the offices of Greenspirit Strategies in suite 503

Greenspirit Strategies is a PR firm set up by Patrick Moore one of the founders of greenpeace, who is now a campaigner against the environmental movement on behalf of corporations.

Spinning farmed salmon

According to Spinning Farmed Salmon:

Brunt is listed as a ‘senior consultant’ at Greenspirit, a ‘communications consulting firm that delivers strategic planning for sustainability issues.’ Greenspirit was set up by Patrick Moore, one of the founders of Greenpeace who has become a full time campaigner for industry interests. After leaving Greenpeace in the mid 1980s, Moore ventured unsuccessfully into the salmon farming business. Now he makes a living writing, speaking and campaigning on behalf of the logging, aquaculture, nuclear and GM industries.

The January 2004 crisis saw Greenspirit update an earlier report to criticise the Hites study and attacked the tactics used by environmentalists against the aquaculture industry. This report, ‘Issues in Aquaculture, Farmed Salmon, PCB’s, Activists and the Media: Framed Salmon: Updated to provide commentary on the well-publicized January 9, 2004 Science (Vol.303) study of PCB levels in farmed and wild salmon’, was commissioned by the SPAA. It stated that:

‘The salmon farming industry is being subjected to a host of allegations related to environmental sustainability and human health and nutrition...it seems clear that these findings form part of the larger effort by activists to damage the reputation of the salmon aquaculture industry by using food-scare tactics that have no basis in scientific fact.

Patrick Moore’s own introduction claims that activists will continue to run campaigns of misinformation against the farmed salmon industry. Moore champions trust in what he calls ‘real experts and scientists’. In his opinion, inferred from the scientific references in the report, it is clear that Patrick Moore’s ‘real’ experts are those who - like him - are paid by industry.

The input from British Columbia was a classic use of the third party technique, the PR ruse of creating and marshalling fake ‘grassroots’ organisations to create the impression of widespread support for industry interests. Laurie Jensen recounted in an aquaculture industry presentation in July 2005 how her ‘small group of dedicated individuals were able to initiate change and promote the positive awareness and education of Aquaculture in British Columbia.’

People

• Dr. Patrick Moore is an internationally-renowned ecologist and environmentalist. Beginning his career as an activist and founder of Greenpeace where he worked in the top committee for 15 years, today Dr. Moore concentrates on collaborative efforts aimed at finding sustainability solutions. An accomplished author, photographer and public speaker quoted in the media worldwide, Dr. Moore believes strongly in the multi-stakeholder, consensus-based approach to resolving environmental, social, and economic issues. In 1991 Dr. Moore founded parent Greenspirit Enterprises. Chair and Chief Scientist of Greenspirit Strategies Ltd., Patrick is based in Vancouver and Winter Harbour, Canada.

• Tom Tevlin has spent more than 15 years promoting sustainable industries and building public understanding of corporate social responsibility within the natural resources sector. A journalist by training, he co-founded the Forest Alliance, where he served variously as Executive Director, President and Chief Executive Officer. Tom has led delegations to UN sessions in New York, Geneva, the Hague, Denpasar and Johannesburg. He is a member of the University of BC Faculty of Forestry Advisory Council, numerous committees of Forest Products Association of Canada and the North America-wide Wood Promotion Network, PricewaterhouseCoopers ISO External Oversight Committee, a boardmember of First Dollar Alliance and past member of the BC Provincial Minister's Advisory Council on Certification and the technical working group to the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers' review of Canada's criteria & indicators for sustainable forestry under the Montreal Process. President and CEO of Greenspirit Strategies Ltd. and ConsensusWorks Consultants Inc., Tom is based in Vancouver, Canada.

• Trevor Figueiredo has national and international experience in communications, public relations and sustainable forestry. He has worked within the highest levels of the Canadian federal government, including the Privy Council Office and the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC where he gained expertise dealing with International Financial Institutions such as the World Bank. Trevor has addressed the United Nations Intergovernmental Forum on Forests and has given briefings on forest sustainability and forest certification to leaders in the international marketplace. Senior Vice President, Policy and Planning for Greenspirit Strategies Ltd., and President of Figueiredo Communications Inc., Trevor is based in Vancouver, Canada.

• Leanne Brunt has a wealth of experience in natural resource industries, and works extensively in aquaculture. Her involvement in Greenspirit Strategies Ltd. provides us with an on-the-ground understanding of sustainable industries and how they operate. A Senior Consultant with Greenspirit Strategies Ltd. and a noted grassroots organizer who holds executive positions with grassroots groups such as Society for Positive Aquaculture Awareness and the First Dollar Alliance, Leanne is based in Campbell River, Canada.

• Jeremy Twigg handled advertising, promotions, and national distribution as Marketing Manager of BC BookWorld, Canada's largest-circulation literary periodical. As Managing Editor, he wrote feature reviews, planned content, and edited freelance articles. He was a Project Coordinator of national television broadcaster CTV, where he coordinated the development and production of documentaries, television movies and drama series. Based in Vancouver, Canada, Jeremy conducts media relations as a Senior Consultant with Greenspirit Strategies Ltd.

• Jennifer Katona has a diverse background in sales and marketing, advertising and public relations. She has worked internationally in Milan at Bayer Italy and H3G Telecommunications, where she created language-training programs for senior corporate executives, and in Ireland where she worked in hotel management near Dublin. Jen writes a monthly consumer products review column for a Canada-wide tourism-industry website. Based in Vancouver, Canada, Jen is a consultant with Greenspirit Strategies Ltd.

See also

• First Dollar
• Salmon of the Americas
• Scottish Quality Salmon
• Society for the Positive Awareness of Aquaculture