JOHANNESBURG (AP):

An anti-apartheid campaigner who, yesterday, became the head of the environmental group, Greenpeace, says he will use his activism know-how to spur governments into reversing climate change, stressing that unless dramatic steps are taken "all the world is going to sink."

Kumi Naidoo is the first African to head Greenpeace, said Gerd Leipold, his predecessor.

In an exclusive inter-view with The Asso-ciated Press before he took the helm of the independent global campaigning organisation, Naidoo said Greenpeace is committed to dialogue, but knows when to deploy headline-grabbing protesters. The activist recently went on a hunger strike to press for solutions to Zimbabwe's political and economic crises and says he learned during the struggle against apartheid the importance of being "strong in our voice and our actions."