Our Ocean: Arctic Commitment Seeks Partners on Heavy Fuel Oil Ban
Malta, October 9th, 2017:- The Our Ocean conference in Malta was the venue for the launch of an international initiative to end use of heavy fuel oil (HFO) by Arctic shipping. On Friday, October 6th, as one of the ambitious commitments made during the conference, the Our Ocean Arctic Commitment was launched to expand collaboration between the cruise industry, environmental NGOs and indigenous communities, in order to protect the Arctic environment, its wildlife and its peoples.
The threat of a heavy fuel oil spill not only poses a severe risk to Arctic ecosystems, but burning it as marine fuel is contributing to increased ice melt in the Arctic. HFO has already been banned in the Antarctic because of the risks it poses to vulnerable, fragile ecosystems and to wildlife, and because of the difficulty in responding to a spill in remote locations.
The Our Ocean Arctic Commitment multistakeholder collaboration for a HFO free Arctic brings together the Clean Arctic Alliance (international NGO partnership), the Eyak Preservation Council (Alaskan social change organisation), Hurtigruten (expedition cruise operator) and the European Climate Foundation (philanthropic foundation). The Our Ocean Arctic Commitment follows the January 2017 launch of the “Arctic Commitment”, which has already been signed by more than 50 leading Arctic companies, polar explorers, indigenous groups, NGOs and political figures and aims to increase the awareness and grow support for the Arctic Commitment – a commitment to ban the use of the most polluting of shipping fuels in Arctic waters.
“Following the success of the Arctic Commitment since we launched in Tromsø in January, and recent commitments made by IMO member states regarding measures to mitigate the effects of heavy fuel oil at MEPC71, we are honoured to launch this new commitment at Our Ocean, calling on industry, environmental NGOs and indigenous communities to join us in working towards an eventual Arctic ban on use and carriage of shipping’s dirtiest fuel”, said Dr Sian Prior, Lead Advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance.
“Our Alaskan community was the ground zero for the devastating impacts of the 1989 Exxon-Valdez oil spill- the harmful effects linger to this day”, said Carol Hoover, Executive Director of the Eyak Preservation Council. “A dangerous heavy fuel oil (HFO) spill would be catastrophic and forever life changing for the people who depend on their pristine habitat. We need to do everything we can to prevent this from happening in the Arctic marine environment.
“The use of heavy fuel oil (HFO) has already been banned in the Antarctic, now it’s time to ban it in the Arctic as well”, Daniel Skjeldam, CEO of expedition cruise operators Hurtigruten, which does not use heavy fuel oil in any of its ships, and co-sponsors the Arctic Commitment. “The shipping industry must be frontrunners in promoting regulations that will secure sustainable Arctic growth”.
“An accident involving a mega ship and spill of heavy fuel oil in the Arctic would represent an environmental disaster”, continued Skjeldam. “If heavy fuel oil is spilled in cold Arctic waters, it will have larger consequences than anywhere else. The Arctic deserves sustainable growth and innovation, and the industry needs to move first. Hurtigruten is proud to present the Arctic Commitment to the attention of the Our Ocean conference”.
The objective of the initiative is to expand the “Arctic Commitment” to over one hundred leading Arctic voices, in order to:
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inform about the availability of innovative technologies demonstrating that abandoning the use of HFO in the Arctic is feasible;
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raise the profile of innovative industry sectors already using alternatives to HFO in the Arctic;
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launch new and dedicated communications campaigns;
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and, to reinforce the political and future decision-making process, prepare an “Arctic Commitment” Report highlighting signatories, and “words of wisdom” from a selection of Arctic voices. “
ENDS
Contacts:
For more information, please contact
Dave Walsh, Communications Advisor, HFO-Free Arctic Campaign, [email protected], +34 691 826 764
Sian Prior, Leader Advisor, HFO-Free Arctic Campaign, [email protected], +44 7785 747945
Rune Thomas Ege, VP Global Communications, Hurtigruten, [email protected] +47 988 288 68
Notes
On January 25th 2017, the Arctic Commitment was launched at the Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø, Norway. The Arctic Commitment is an initiative by the Clean Arctic Alliance and cruise ship operator Hurtigruten, and calls on businesses and organisations to step forward and call for a phase-out of polluting heavy fuel oil (HFO) from Arctic shipping.
Our Ocean Commitments
https://ourocean2017.org/our-ocean-commitments
“The Clean Arctic Alliance, along with the European Climate Foundation, Eyak Preservation Council and the expedition cruise ship operator Hurtigruten announced their commitment to further develop the Arctic Commitment multistakeholder collaboration for a heavy fuel oil (HFO) free Arctic. The initiative will increase the groundswell of support for a ban on the use and carriage of HFO fuel in the Arctic. The aim is to expand the “Arctic Commitment” to over one hundred leading Arctic voices, including industry, environmental NGOs and indigenous communities; profile innovative technologies demonstrating that abandoning the use of HFO in the Arctic is feasible; profile innovative industry sector leaders using alternatives to HFO in the Arctic; launch new communications pieces on alternatives to HFO; and prepare an Arctic Commitment Report highlighting signatories, and “words of wisdom” from a selection of Arctic voices. The initiative will conclude towards the end of 2018.”
About the IMO plan for HFO
At the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 71) in London in July 2017, the Clean Arctic Alliance welcomed the support from Member States for a proposal to identify measures which will mitigate the risks posed by the use of heavy fuel oil (HFO) in Arctic waters, and called on the IMO to work towards a swift conclusion of the work. The proposal, Measures to Reduce Risks of Use and Carriage of Heavy Fuel Oil as Fuel by Ships in Arctic Waters was proposed by Canada, Finland, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway and the US, and supported this week by the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Poland, Singapore, Spain and Sweden. Concrete proposals for measures to reduce the risks of HFO will now be considered by MEPC 72 in April 2018. More details:
About the Clean Arctic Alliance
The following not-for-profit organisations form the Clean Arctic Alliance, which is committed to achieving the phase-out of HFO as marine fuel in the Arctic:
Alaska Wilderness League, Bellona, Clean Air Task Force, Danish Ecological Council, Environmental Investigation Agency, European Climate Foundation, Friends of the Earth US, Greenpeace, Icelandic Nature Conservation Association, Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union, Ocean Conservancy, Pacific Environment, Seas At Risk, Surfrider Foundation, Transport & Environment and WWF.
For more information visit https://www.hfofreearctic.org/