Claim: Greenpeace is focused on the issues of commercial whaling.

Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over 40 countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam , the Netherlands . Founded by Canadian and US ex-pat environmental activists in 1971 , Greenpeace states its goal is to `` ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity '' and focuses its campaigning on worldwide issues such as climate change , deforestation , overfishing , commercial whaling , genetic engineering , and anti-nuclear issues . It uses direct action , lobbying , research , and ecotage to achieve its goals . The global organization does not accept funding from governments , corporations , or political parties , relying on 2.9 million individual supporters and foundation grants . Greenpeace has a general consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council and is a founding member of the INGO Accountability Charter ; an international non-governmental organization that intends to foster accountability and transparency of non-governmental organizations .   Greenpeace is known for its direct actions and has been described as the most visible environmental organization in the world . Greenpeace has raised environmental issues to public knowledge , and influenced both the private and the public sector . Greenpeace has also been a source of controversy ; its motives and methods -LRB- some of the latter being illegal -RRB- have received criticism , including an open letter from more than 100 Nobel laureates urging Greenpeace to end its campaign against genetically modified organisms -LRB- GMOs -RRB- . The organization 's direct actions have sparked legal actions against Greenpeace activists , such as fines and suspended sentences for destroying a test plot of genetically modified wheat and damaging the Nazca Lines , a UN World Heritage site in Peru .