Pete Wilkinson obituary: Greenpeace UK’s first director

Dogged environmental activist and thorn in Thatcher’s side who helped to prevent decades of mining in Antarctica

This black and white photograph from 1985 shows a bearded man in a checkered flannel shirt standing in front of a Greenpeace ship. The vessel's hull displays the distinctive — Wilkinson with one of Greenpeace’s ships in 1985 when he was leader of the organisation’s Antarctic expeditions

Pete Wilkinson was Greenpeace UK's first director and a pioneering environmental activist who helped create the blueprint for modern climate activism. A working-class campaigner from Deptford, Wilkinson was recruited in 1977 by Greenpeace founder David McTaggart, who had asked for "the most ornery sonofabitch" from Friends of the Earth.

As campaign director for over a decade, Wilkinson proved a persistent thorn in Margaret Thatcher's side, organizing dramatic protests including sailing inflatables below British nuclear waste dumping rigs, chasing Japanese whalers, and scaling Big Ben in 1984. His meticulous planning generated maximum publicity - "When we tell the press that we're going to do something, they know that it's going to be effective and they know it's going to be dramatic," he said.

Wilkinson's crowning achievement was helping prevent mineral exploitation in Antarctica. Leading six expeditions from 1985, he established the first year-round Antarctic protest base on Ross Island. His team "lived on adrenaline and played hard" during the volatile polar conditions. This persistent campaign contributed to the 1991 treaty designating Antarctica a "World Park" with a 50-year mining moratorium that still stands today.

This black and white photograph shows a large marble monument or memorial stone being prepared for transport. A smiling man in a checkered shirt stands next to the tall stone structure, which has a commemorative plaque mounted on it. The scene appears to be at a dock or shipyard, with wooden crates, rigging equipment, and what looks like the Sydney Opera House visible in the background across the water. — A 17-foot marble monument being prepared for shipment to Antarctica.

Early victories included disrupting the 1978 International Whaling Commission conference and preventing a seal cull around Orkney Islands, which gained worldwide media attention and established Greenpeace as "box office" news. By the 1980s, they owned three ships and had 30,000 British supporters.

Wilkinson's activism was motivated by anger at environmental destruction: "I don't like to see what is essentially a very unique and beautiful thing being polluted and destroyed." His relationship with police he dismissed as "good-natured competition," claiming officers privately supported their cause.

After leaving Greenpeace, funding challenges meant he worked at Asda and drove school buses while continuing evening campaigns, latterly fighting the proposed Sizewell C nuclear power station.

Pete Wilkinson died of a suspected heart attack on January 21, 2025, aged 78

This black and white photograph shows five men standing together on a dock at London Docks, posing in front of a large vessel named — Black and white photo of Greenpeace supporters at London Docks with the Gondwana vessel.