Auckland, New Zealand, Thursday 10 July 2025 — 40 years ago today, Greenpeace’s flagship Rainbow Warrior was bombed and sunk in Auckland Harbour by French secret service agents in an operation that murdered photographer Fernando Pereira. The commemoration coincides with Greenpeace resisting a new wave of attacks from the billionaires and corporate polluters who plunder our precious planet.
The bombing was an attempt to silence anti-nuclear protests in the Pacific. It backfired, igniting a global outcry and galvanising a movement. “You Can’t Sink a Rainbow” became a rallying call for resistance. It was a call to courage, putting hope into action for a better world.
Mads Christensen, Greenpeace International Executive Director, said: “Whether forty years ago or today, Greenpeace will resist, we will persist, and we will win. Alongside our allies, and inspired by the courage of those who came before us, the global community of people working together in hope and for each other will prevail over those who plunder the planet for profit and power.”
“This anniversary is a moment to remember Fernando Pereira. It is a moment to remember that when we join together, we can, and have changed the world for the better.
“In 1985, the French government wasn’t just trying to sink a ship – it was attempting to sink a movement, to attack activism, and to silence the voice of hope. They failed. They blew wind in our sails.
“Greenpeace and the movement refused to back down and continued to campaign against nuclear testing until, in 1996, we won.
“In 2025, civil society is under increased attacks from billionaires and fossil fuel companies trying to silence dissent, but we will show again that hope rises as we join together to meet this moment with increased unity and courage”.
In 1985, the Rainbow Warrior had just helped relocate the people of Rongelap to Mejatto. The 300 Marshall Islanders were suffering severe health effects – including radiation sickness, birth defects, and high cancer rates – as a consequence of the fallout from the notorious 1954 US Castle Bravo nuclear weapons test at Bikini Atoll.
The crew then sailed to Auckland to join protests against French nuclear testing at Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific. The Rainbow Warrior was to lead a flotilla of boats into the test zone to disrupt and draw international attention to atmospheric nuclear tests.
In the wake of the bombing, protests and international pressure against nuclear weapons testing continued to build. Greenpeace mounted three further protest expeditions to Mururoa in 1990, 1992 and 1995 on board the Rainbow Warrior II.
In 1995 the Rainbow Warrior sailed into the test zone, defying exclusion orders and attempting to disrupt the tests, drawing global media attention and support. French forces seized the ship and arrested the crew, sparking widespread international condemnation. Although six tests went ahead, the intense backlash contributed to President Jacques Chirac announcing a permanent end to nuclear testing and signing the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in 1996.
Earlier this year, the Rainbow Warrior returned to the Marshall Islands to commemorate 40 years since the evacuation, carrying out scientific research and joining the calls for nuclear justice in the Pacific.
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