Greenpeace is a non-governmental, environmental organization with offices in over 39 countries. It was founded in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, Canadian and US ex-pat environmental activists to focus its campaign on worldwide issues such as climate change, deforestation, overfishing, commercial whaling, genetic engineering, and anti-nuclear issues. In the early 1970s, pollution, over-fishing of the oceans, and nuclear testing were all harming the Earth. They decided to stand up for what they believed in and try to stop what was happening. Although they would be fighting against governments and huge companies, they thought that somehow they could make a difference. Over the years, Greenpeace has grown into an organization with more than 4.5 million members. Its members have persuaded governments to reduce pollutions and stop whaling in the oceans around Antarctica. They have reduced the destruction of ancient forests and successfully fought to impose a ban on cruel and damaging fishing methods such as large-scale drift-netting.