The Clean Arctic Alliance, a coalition of NGOs, has developed a position statement urging the IMO, the appropriate international body to regulate the use and carriage of HFO, to adopt a legally binding instrument to phase out the use of HFO as marine fuel in Arctic waters by 2020. This need to ban HFO is gaining momentum, as the IMO- prepares to meet in London within this month for the forthcoming MEPC 70.
From October 24-28, discussions relating to shipping fuels will likely predominate during the meeting of the Environment Protection Committee (MEPC70). For the first time since it was founded in 1951, a panel of arctic indigenous speakers from Russia, the United States, and Canada will address the IMO, on the subject of HFO.
“The International Maritime Organization must begin the immediate phase-out of heavy fuel oils from Arctic waters”, said Sian Prior, Advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance, an international coalition of NGOs.
“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.”
With the submission by the US and Canada of a paper outlining the need to mitigate impacts of this polluting fuel, Seas at Risk as part of a new coalition of NGOs, The Clean Arctic Alliance, has developed a position statement asking states to #saynotoHFO.
The use of heavy fuel oil by vessels operating in the arctic:
- poses a major risk to the arctic marine environment. In case of a heavy fuel oil spill there would be a long term impact on growth and reproductive rates of various species. In addition, In the event of an HFO spill, challenging environmental conditions make spill response efforts nearly impossible.
- produces harmful emissions that negatively impact the global climate. In particular, black carbon is a critical contributor to human induced climate warming in the Arctic. When it falls on Arctic snow and ice, it reduces the amount of sunlight reflected back into space accelerating snow and ice melt.
- threatens the food security, livelihood and way of life of arctic communities. A heavy fuel oil spill would have devastating consequences on these communities and on the resources they depend on for their nutritional, cultural, and economic needs.
- produces emissions that impact human health.
- is expected to increase. Studies estimate that overall shipping activity in the Arctic will increase by more than 50% between 2012 and 2050, increasing also the risk of heavy fuel oil spills.
Find out more by reading Clean Arctic Alliance position statement herebelow
