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Ocean Unite

KEY ISSUES

THE ARCTIC

arctic iceberg

The dazzling, delicate Top of the World is ground zero for climate change. Shielding it from harm is a defining challenge of our time. As ice cover declines and a new ocean emerges, we must unite against prospective plunderers of Arctic oil, gas and fish. Oil companies profiting from the melting ice is too cruel an irony, and too great a risk for the future of our planet. It is our duty to keep the Arctic safe: there must be no drilling anywhere in the Arctic, no industrial commercial fishing at its centre and a ban on heavy fuel oil use by ships operating in the region.

TALKING POINTS

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  • We are witnessing the birth of a new Ocean at the top of the world.
  • The Ocean occupies nearly two-thirds of Arctic territory.
  • Arctic sea ice – sometimes called the planet’s air conditioner – plays an important role in regulating the global climate. The bright white surface of the sea ice reflects roughly 80% of the sunlight that strikes it back into space, which keeps the region cool. By comparison, the dark Ocean surface absorbs 90% of the sunlight.
  • The sea ice provides important habitat for seals, walruses and polar bears on top of the ice, and for plankton production and plankton-eating fish that live beneath the ice.
  • The Arctic is a critical habitat for endangered and threatened species which are already stressed from the effects of climate change, such as polar bears, whales, seals, and migratory birds.
  • Despite its ecological importance and vulnerability, the Arctic marine environment remains one of the least protected and vulnerable places on Earth.
  • The melting Arctic ice has made the region’s oil, gas and minerals more accessible, opened up shipping routes and expanded commercial fishing. It has triggered global interest – and competitiveness – in the region from Arctic nations and those far outside its boundaries that see opportunity knocking. All activities could negatively impact on this fragile environment.
  • Unlike Antarctica, the Arctic does not have a single overarching treaty to govern it. The legal instruments that currently govern the region are not coherent and do not take into account the cumulative impact of the different activities in the region.
  • The Arctic Council, which is the key body responsible for the Arctic, is not a legal entity, and only makes non-binding, voluntary recommendations, and lacks enforcement mechanisms. For it to remain relevant in the future it will need to move from being a policy-shaping forum to having a much greater role in policy making.
  • Iceland is currently chairing the Arctic Council (2019-2021).

THREATS:

Climate Change

  • The Arctic is ground zero of climate change, experiencing the most effects of any other area in the world.
  • The Arctic is seeing record-breaking temperatures – some that you would expect more at southern beach resorts.
  • Arctic sea ice cover is declining by about 4% per decade, and predictions have said that the Arctic waters could have completely ice-free Summers by 2050, and possibly even sooner.
  • September 2020 saw Arctic sea ice extent reach the second lowest minimum in the 42-year record. The 14 lowest sea ice extents since the satellite record started in 1979 have all occurred in the last 14 years.
  • The rate of ice loss across in the Ocean’s polar regions is accelerating and is now in line with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s worst-case scenario. Warming of the atmosphere and rising sea temperatures is causing the ice melt, with the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets melting at the fastest rate.
  • Climate change is having a huge impact on Arctic terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems and it is breaking down this critical cooling system.
  • Arctic waters are becoming increasingly acidic, with a recent US study showing that within the next 15-20 years marine species with hard shells, such as lobster and crab, will find it increasingly difficult to build their shells.
  • Many of the adaptations that Arctic plant and animal species have acquired to survive the harsh conditions also limit their ability to respond to warmer climates and other environmental changes.
  • Some species, such as grizzly bears, have started moving northward and showing up in areas usually occupied by polar bears and Arctic foxes. But other species, like whales, seals or polar bears, may not adapt quickly enough to the changing conditions.
  • In a rapidly warming Arctic polar bears and narwhals use up to four times more energy to survive. Declines of these iconic species are likely to lead to rapid changes in the entire Arctic marine ecosystem.
  • Wetlands make up about 11% of the terrestrial surface of the Arctic. They are the summer homes of millions of migratory birds, including the common eider that breeds in the Arctic and winters in more temperate zones. But wetlands – and other freshwater ecosystems – are vulnerable to warmer temperatures, changes in precipitation and thawing permafrost. Ponds and lakes can disappear if the permafrost beneath them thaws.
  • The loss of sea ice not only impacts life in the Arctic. A recent study provides evidence that unprecedented extreme summer heatwaves that have occurred in Europe in recent decades are closely linked to reductions in Arctic sea ice and snow cover in high latitudes.
  • Accelerated sea-ice loss in the Arctic is predicted to decrease the carbon dioxide sink in some areas of the western Arctic Ocean and increase long-term Ocean acidification rates, which may profoundly affect the carbon cycle.

Oil and Gas Drilling

  • The US Geological Survey estimates that the Arctic holds 13% of the world’s undiscovered reserves of oil, or about 90 billion barrels, of which 84% lie offshore. Natural gas reserves are estimated at 47 trillion cubic meters of gas and 44 billion barrels of liquefied petroleum gas, or 30% of undiscovered gas reserves and 20% of undiscovered LPG.
  • Oil companies are eyeing up the Arctic despite its remoteness, investment risk and having some of the most challenging drilling conditions in the world.
  • In the Arctic, clean-up from an oil spill is immensely difficult because of the physical conditions and techniques available to contain and clean-up an oil spill are inadequate, meaning that the consequences of a spill for Arctic life are catastrophic. There are two reasons not to drill in the Arctic: we just are not ready to drill there; and, we have a moral imperative not to continue the cycle of dependency that the melting Arctic epitomizes.
  • It is one of the great ironies of our time that the very companies that have profited from the carbon economy, the collateral damage of which includes the significant melting now occurring in the Arctic, are now looking to the Arctic as the next great frontier for oil and gas drilling.
  • Despite an announcement at the end of 2016 by former US President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau to ban new offshore oil and gas leases in their countries’ Arctic waters, in 2018 US President Trump overturned this commitment and re-opened US Arctic waters to oil drilling, posing a huge threat to this fragile environment.

Fisheries

  • The receding sea ice is opening up new fishing opportunities in the Arctic, and increasingly warmer waters are encouraging commercial fish stocks, such as cod, and industrial-scale fishing vessels to move northwards.
  • Climate change is causing sea temperatures to rise and a recent study found that 2-3 ºC warming of marine waters is likely to produce large-scale changes in the location, composition and productivity of many sub-Arctic fisheries.
  • Fisheries are moving further north on the Atlantic side of the Arctic, as commercial fishing is absent from the Pacific following the US government’s precautionary move in 2008 to stop all commercial fishing north of the Bering Strait until more is known about the effects of the changing climate on the marine area.
  • The region is very vulnerable to the impacts of overfishing, and may be very slow to recover, having disastrous impacts on wildlife such as polar bears and seals.
  • In 2018, officials from the 5 Arctic nations (Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the US) together with distant water fishing nations Japan, China, South Korea and the EU met in Greenland to sign the landmark Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean.
  • This signing formalized the commitment made in December 2017, when Arctic countries and distant water fishing nations agreed to keep 2.8 million km2 of the High Seas area in the Central Arctic Ocean off limits to commercial fishing for at least 16 years, to protect Arctic marine ecosystems that have opened up due to melting ice.
  • This moratorium to protect marine life will automatically be renewed in 2033, and every 5 years after that, unless a country objects or fisheries management structures have been put in place.
  • This precautionary time-out will enable more scientific research in the region to better understand the impacts of climate change on its fish stocks and Arctic marine life.

Shipping

  • The melting ice is not only opening up the area to fishing vessels but also to increased shipping activity. New shipping routes are being created such as the Northwest and Northeast Passages from Europe to Asia and Asia to North America.
  • More shipping companies are eyeing up Arctic shipping routes, as it will cut transit distance between Asian and European ports by 30-40%, saving companies huge amounts on fuel and journey time, the cost of the tolls for going through the Suez or Panama Canal and avoiding high risk piracy areas.
  • The rates that sea ice is retreating means that soon it will be possible for commercial shipping vessels to use the Northern Sea route as a viable alternative to the Suez Canal all year round.
  • In August 2018, because of melting ice, the 1st ever container ship made it through the previously inaccessible Northern Sea Route along the coast of Northern Russia.
  • The Arctic is a harsh environment to operate in, with hazards from floating ice, fog and violent storms. In combination with poor mapping, insufficient resources for search and rescue capacity and the difficulty of clearing up oil spills in the region. Each of these means that the environmental risks of an oil spill from a tanker or an incident at sea are significantly increased.
  • Around 75% of marine fuel currently carried in the Arctic is heavy fuel oil (HFO) and more than half is carried by vessels flagged to non-Arctic states – countries that have little if any connection to the Arctic. Heavy fuel oil is one of the world’s dirtiest fuels, is not only virtually impossible to clean up in the event of a spill, as it is very slow to break down, especially in cold water, but it also produces higher levels of air and climate pollutants than other marine fuels.
  • Heavy fuel oil has been banned for use and carriage in the Antarctic because of the vulnerability of this polar region, but not yet in the Arctic, although discussions are underway within the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to introduce a ban.
  • Between 2015 and 2017 there was a 46% increase in the volume of heavy fuel oil carried by ships through the Arctic, raising the risk of oil spills and black carbon impacts. While seven of the eight Arctic nations now back banning HFOs, Russia is yet to get on board, and even among the supporting states there are calls for a phased-in approach and delays that would allow some ships to use HFOs for at least 5 more years.
  • Increased shipping also raises the risk of ship strikes for marine mammals, as well as noise pollution and invasive species entering the waters. This puts the Arctic Ocean, its wildlife, and the people who depend on them at risk.
  • The IMO Polar Code that came into force on the 1stJanuary 2017 includes new measures for ships operating in polar areas. It is an important step to promote safe shipping operations and protection of the polar environment, but will need to be strengthened further to incorporate issues such as a heavy fuel oil ban, ballast water and air emissions.

Plastic pollution

WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN?

  • Protecting the Arctic is one of the most urgent issues of our time, as we are literally seeing a new Ocean open up before us.
  • We have so much more to gain from protecting this amazing fragile environment for future generations than exploiting it for the benefit of a handful of corporations.
  • The Arctic can only be protected if we cut carbon emissions as far and as fast as possible, and at the same time, fully protect large marine areas to help Arctic marine ecosystems build resilience to the changes happening around them.
  • No oil and gas drilling should be allowed in the Arctic as is too dangerous, too expensive, and has no place in a sustainable future for the region.
  • Heavy fuel oil should be banned in the Arctic by the International Maritime Organization. The Clean Arctic Alliance insists that any delays or exemptions to the ban are totally unacceptable. Switching to distillate fuels in the Arctic and using diesel particulate filters will lead to black carbon reductions of over 99%. Action is needed now, not in 5 years!
  • Arctic nations need to take more action to establish an effective network of marine reserves in the region that strongly protects at least 30% of Arctic waters.

Safiya Sawney is currently the Caribbean Policy Lead for Ocean Unite. Most recently she was the Ocean and Climate Policy Advisor to the Mission of the Republic of Palau to the United Nations representing the President of Palau at the High-Level Panel for the Sustainable Ocean Economy and leading Palau’s engagement at the UN Secretary General’s 2019 Climate Action Summit. Safiya was also the project coordinator for the UN Office of Project Services providing strategic support towards the 2020 Our Oceans Conference.

Formerly, Safiya was the lead policy advisor on a Blue Economy partnership platform between the Governments of the Netherlands and Grenada with support from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Safiya has fostered many innovative partnerships to spur action on ocean plastics and environmental awareness for small islands states including partnerships with Parley for the Ocean and Adidas, PangeaSeed, UN Environment, United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, and others.

Safiya has provided policy support to Climate Analytics Inc. on Caribbean climate strategies, was the deputy coordinator for the Caribbean team that executed the 2013 Caribbean Challenge Initiative (CCI) Summit in collaboration with Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Unite and The Nature Conservancy and served as technical advisor to Alliance of Small Island Developing States at the UN.

Jon Bassford, CAE, JD, MBA is an association and nonprofit operations professional. Jon has worked for c3 to c7 organizations across many different roles and responsibilities but has carved out an expertise as an efficient and effective operations professional. Through his consulting firm Lateral Solutions, Jon leads several organizations as a part-time operations director as well as client work in college student/campus outreach, organizational development, innovation, and strategy. Jon has truly carved out an expertise helping organizations launch and run internal operations in an efficient and effective manner using digital tools.
 
Across his membership and operational roles, Jon has 15 years of experience leading organizations.

Renee brings nearly a decade of internal operations experience to the Ocean Unite team. Prior to joining the team, Renee worked for eight years at The Pew Charitable Trusts where she began as an administrative assistant supporting their Shark, Tuna, and Whale conservation campaigns as well as the Senior Director of International Ocean Conservation. Particularly adept at identifying operational issues and developing methods to solve them, Renee moved into an operations role working across Pew’s international Ocean conservation projects, then all their environment conservation projects, and later the breadth of Pew’s programmatic work. She has degrees from California State University, San Bernardino, and Temple University in Philadelphia, and recently relocated from Washington, DC, to the California coast. As hard as this team works to protect our magnificent Ocean, Renee is the only person on the team who lives at the beach and relishes in enjoying the beauty of the Ocean every day.

Brittney is Ocean Unite’s digital and social media manager and is a consultant for Communications Inc. Comms Inc. is an agency which works with the not-for-profit sector, with a particular specialism in the ocean and wider environment. They are well known within the international ocean community and enjoy the trust of, and a working relationship with, most of the large international environmental NGOs and coalitions. Recognised for their ability to deliver fast, cost-effective and productive communications and campaigning, they are particularly valued for their strategic contribution based on a sound understanding of the issues, the political landscape within which the issues exist and a creative approach to bringing about change. (www.communicationsinc.co.uk)

One of the principals of Communications Inc., Sophie has nearly 20 years of experience in strategic communications. Comms Inc., is an agency which works with the not for profit sector, with a particular specialism in the ocean and wider environment. They are well known within the international ocean community and enjoy the trust of, and a working relationship with, most of the large international environmental NGOs and coalitions. Recognised for their ability to deliver fast, cost-effective and productive communications and campaigning, they are particularly valued for their strategic contribution based on a sound understanding of the issues, the political landscape within which the issues exist and a creative approach to bringing about change (www.communicationsinc.co.uk).

Nathalie has almost two decades of experience working in environmental advocacy. She worked for over 15 years for Greenpeace International, focusing mainly on biodiversity issues. For many years she worked as Senior Oceans Political Advisor focusing on international ocean governance and marine conservation. More recently she was the deputy director of the Political and Business Unit. She has wide experience of attending and leading delegations at international environmental meetings, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species, and ocean-related negotiations at the UN General Assembly. When asked why she feels strongly about protecting the ocean, she says that not only is it home to the weirdest and most wonderful creatures on the planet, tomorrow’s life-saving drugs could be found at the bottom of the sea, not to mention the discovery of an anti-wrinkle cream that actually works!

Karen has over 25 years of experience working for international non-governmental organisations on environmental issues around the world with a particular focus on protecting marine biodiversity and building resilience to climate change. In 2015, Sack established Ocean Unite, co-founded by Sir Richard Branson and former Costa Rican President José María Figueres, to engage leadership voices and the business community to accelerate ocean health and resilience. Ocean Unite is committed to helping secure the strong protection of 30 per cent of the ocean by 2030. It has also developed a groundbreaking partnership with the insurance sector to address ocean risk.

She was senior director for international oceans at The Pew Charitable Trusts, where she developed their international oceans program including their ending illegal fishing strategy and initiated and was the managing partner of the Global Ocean Commission. Before that she was head of Greenpeace International’s political and business unit and head of their international oceans programme. In 2004, she was the first person from a non-governmental organization to speak at a regular session of the United Nations General Assembly, where she represented the concerns of over 60 environmental organizations from around the world over the plight of our oceans. Karen is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network. She has master’s degrees in international environmental law and in international political economy.