During the Clean Arctic Alliance webinar held on September 28, The IMO draft Arctic Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) regulation: A ban in name only?, the speakers explored the social, environmental and legal implications of the draft Arctic HFO regulation if adopted as currently drafted, and what it will mean for Arctic environmental protection.
Heavy fuel oil (HFO) is shipping’s dirtiest fuel – almost impossible to clean up following a spill, and produces high levels of pollution when used by ships. The Arctic is warming at twice the global average. Between 2015 and 2019, HFO use in the Arctic increased 75%. This infographic demonstrates how HFO has no place in the Arctic.
Reacting to news of the Arctic summer sea ice minimum reaching its second lowest extent in the 42-year satellite record on September 15, and to recent reports of a polar heatwave, Greenland ice sheet’s loss of million tonnes of ice per day, the collapse of the Spalte glacier and Milne Ice Shelf, and the Arctic’s shift to a new climate, the Clean Arctic Alliance today called on world leaders to take urgent action to slow Arctic warming
Webinar recording: find out what the draft Arctic HFO regulation will mean in practice if adopted as currently drafted, and what it will mean for Arctic environmental protection.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s proposed ban on the transport of heavy fuel oils (HFOs) through Arctic waters contains so many “outrageous” waivers and exemptions, it might even create greater environmental risks for coastal communities, says the Clean Arctic Alliance, a global group of environmental organizations.
Loopholes in the IMO’s proposed heavy fuel oil ban for ships in the Arctic slammed by NGO, study
The proposed International Maritime Organization ban would allow exemptions and waivers resulting in 84% of Arctic shipping continuing to burn HFO in the Arctic, and permitting 70% of vessels to still carry HFO as fuel.
As melting sea ice opens the Arctic to navigation, more ships are plying the loosely regulated polar waters, bringing increasing amounts of climate-warming pollution, a Reuters analysis of new shipping and fuel-consumption data shows.
Al Jazeera: Mauritius oil spill: An alarm bell for environmental safety Nick Clark, Al Jazeera, 13 August 2020: Indian Ocean […]
“Our thoughts and sympathies are with the people of Mauritius who are having to deal with this spill of heavy fuel oil, which is a man-made disaster not of their making. The Clean Arctic Alliance calls on the international community, including Japan, and the ship’s flag-State of Panama, to support France and aid Mauritiusto recover the spilled oil, and to minimise the impact on the Mauritian environment, wildlife and the natural resources on which local communities depend.”
“Our thoughts and sympathies are with the people of Mauritius who are having to deal with this heavy fuel oil spill, which is a man-made disaster not of their making.”