The Clean Arctic Alliance, a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), has urged the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to regulate the use of heavy fuel oil (HFO) in Arctic waters by 2020.
As the 70th session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) approaches, there is increasing pressure on the regulator to protect fragile environments such as the Arctic from the negative impacts of shipping activities. At this month’s MEPC session, to be held between October 24-28, a panel of Arctic indigenous speakers from Russia, the United States, and Canada will address the IMO for the first time since 1951, discussing the use of HFO in such environments.
According to the Clean Artic Alliance, increasing Arctic traffic, receding ice levels and catastrophic oil spills have only exacerbated the vulnerability of Arctic waters. Phasing out dirty HFO by adopting a legally binding instrument is vital says the organisation.
Following commitments made by U.S. President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau to “determine with Arctic partners how best to address the risks posed by heavy fuel oil use and black carbon emissions from Arctic shipping” in March 2016, the United States and Canada formally notified the IMO that a “heavy fuel oil spill in the Arctic could cause long-term damage to the environment”.
HFO oil is currently banned in Antarctica and in the waters around the Norwegian Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard, but has yet to be regulated in Arctic waters. The highly productive ecosystem is home to most of the world’s largest seabird colonies and most of the world’s populations of several whales, seals, and walruses, while some of the world’s highest volume fisheries rely on the productive Arctic waters.
Not only can HFO affect this productivity but the black carbon emitted through the combustion of HFO can accelerate climate change. Snow and ice melt are exacerbated while storms make the Arctic a dangerous environment and difficult to access in the event of an oil spill.
Sian Prior, Advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance commented: “The International Maritime Organization must begin the immediate phase-out of heavy fuel oils from Arctic waters. We urge the International Maritime Organization to adopt a legally binding instrument to end the use of HFO as marine fuel in Arctic waters by 2020.”
“Phasing out HFO for fuel in Arctic waters is the most direct mechanism for mitigating the numerous consequences of an HFO spill and reducing harmful emissions in the Arctic region” she concluded.
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