EuropaWorld 30/3/2001 David Fraser McTaggart

David McTaggart was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on June 24, 1932. An outstanding athlete in his youth, he indulged interests as varied as squash, skiing and golf and won the Canadian National Badminton championship three years in a row. It is not for these athletic accomplishments however that David McTaggart will be chiefly remembered. His impact on the world came via a quite different interest, albeit one pursued with equal vigour and passion. Described by colleagues as being a 'global citizen' long before the term came into common usage, McTaggert was a key figure in establishing the international environmental group Greenpeace; a man who challenged both political and physical boundaries to make saving the planet a personal mission.

As a young man, McTaggart worked in the construction business - an occupation he was to continue for twenty years. He moved to the United States in the 1960s where he became a successful contractor and developer. However when an explosion destroyed a resort lodge built by his firm, seriously injuring an employee, the deeply affected McTaggart left the business and went into semi-retirement, sailing for pleasure in the Pacific. At the same time, he became deeply involved in protests against testing of nuclear weapons, joining the new environmentalist group, Greenpeace, that had been founded in 1971. Although at almost 40, he may have been thought to be a little old for the escapades that have since made the organisation notorious, by the following year, he had already established himself as the epitome of the rebellious environmental crusader.

In 1972 McTaggart became outraged with the French Government's decision to cordon off a vast swath of international waters in the Pacific for the purposes of nuclear testing. Setting a precedent for numerous subsequent protest actions, he sailed directly into the test area, observing international law but ignoring the French Government's unilateral declaration of the area as a forbidden zone. His presence forced the French government to halt its test until a French Navy vessel eventually rammed his boat to end the embarrassing situation. Undaunted, McTaggart repaired his craft and returned the following year. This time he and his crew were physically assaulted by the French military. Although this charge was later denied, it was captured on camera by a crew member. The subsequent litigation against the French government, and the corresponding publicity, played a major part in the French decision to end their nuclear testing programme.

Following this success, little time was lost in expanding the Greenpeace movement. By 1977 the organisation was established in nine countries and McTaggart defied both political norms and conventional wisdom by setting up further offices in eastern Europe and the former USSR. In 1979 he forged an international alliance between the separate factions of the organisation and united them under his chairmanship as Greenpeace International. He is credited by colleagues as being the sole force for unifying a group of internally warring hippies into a credible international environmental movement. McTaggart was both chief spokesperson and driving force behind this movement until his retirement 12 years later. He played a pivotal role in campaigns to stop commercial whaling, to block the dumping of toxic and nuclear waste in the ocean and to protect the Antarctic continent from oil and mineral exploitation.

In 1991, McTaggart retired from active chairmanship of Greenpeace International. Despite suggestions that the organisation had by that time outgrown the leadership of such a headstrong buccaneer, McTaggart received many international awards for his work, including the Onassis Award, the Kreisky Prize, and the United Nations Environmental Programme's Global 500 Award. A thorn in the side of many governments and corporations David McTaggart was in equal measure a visionary and inspiration to others. Despite his headstrong ways, in the words of interim International Executive Director, Gerd Leipold, "Greenpeace would not be what it is today without his amazing force behind it."

David McTaggart was killed in a car accident last Friday, March 23, 2001 near his home in Perugia, Italy. He was 68 years old. His loss will be felt not only by Greenpeace and their supporters but by environmentalists worldwide.