The Rainbow Warrior is in New Zealand for a tour to celebrate the country’s recent oil exploration ban and promote clean energy opportunities.

In April, New Zealand made international headlines when it became one of the first countries in the world to ban new offshore oil and gas exploration licenses.

The ‘Making Oil History’ tour will began with a pōwhiri and wreath laying ceremony at Matauri Bay, the final resting place of the original Rainbow Warrior. In 1985, the ship was bombed by the French Secret Service in retaliation for protests against France’s Pacific nuclear testing programme. The bombing killed Greenpeace photographer, Fernando Pereira.
Two years later, New Zealand became the first country in the world to declare itself nuclear free.

In April this year, in the lead up to the offshore oil and gas ban announcement, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern famously labelled climate change her generation’s “nuclear free moment”.

From Matauri Bay, the Rainbow Warrior travels around the country, stopping in centres including Auckland, Napier, Whangaparaoa Bay, Wellington, Kaikōura, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Stewart Island.