The International Maritime Organization Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR 6) closed last Friday in London. At the meeting, the Clean Arctic Alliance welcomed progress in the the banning of Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) from Arctic shipping but called on the key nations of Russia and Canada to meet their environmental responsibilities and add their support to the ban.
Arctic ship
Photo by Pixabay
The Alliance also asked Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the United States, who already support the HFO ban to keep their focus on ensuring that the ban is adopted by 2021 and phased out totally by 2023.
“Earlier this week, the IMO Secretary General stressed the urgency of the International Maritime Organization taking robust action to reduce the risks to the Arctic marine environment from the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil as fuel by shipping”, said Dr Sian Prior, Lead Advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance. “With the countdown to a ban on HFO use and carriage as fuel by Arctic shipping now ticking away, the Clean Arctic Alliance welcomes the progress made this week at PPR 6. Today, we are one-step closer to improving the protection of the Arctic, its people and wildlife.”
During the meeting, IMO member states finalised the methodology that would be used to assess the impact of a ban on HFO on Arctic ecosystems and indigenous local communities and economies. The meeting also saw commencement of defining what types of fuel would be banned and how they would do so.
As well as looking at HFO risk reduction in the Arctic, PPR 6 also addressed the issue of black carbon emissions from shipping and finalised a list of ways that emissions produced by the burning of oil-based fossil fuels can be reduced. Further consideration of the list and the emissions produced by black carbon will be addressed at the next meeting, in May 2019.
In addition to the usual country delegates, PPR 6 also heard from representatives of several indigenous Arctic communities who would be directly affected by an HFO spill as well as by an increase in costs as a result of a ban.
“With more than 50% of the daily Inuit diet coming from the land and sea, the value of a clean environment and sea ice cover is immeasurable. A HFO spill in the Arctic would put these indigenous and local community values at significant risk”, said Lisa Koperqualuk, Vice-President of Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada (ICC Canada). “Inuit communities are much more at risk from food insecurity compared to the rest of the Canadian population; transportation costs are high, and most supplies, including food, comes by the annual sealift.”
HFO is extremely viscous and it takes a long time to break down in the cold Arctic climate. Even when conditions are ideal, spill response in the Arctic is difficult. A third of Canadian ship voyages in the Arctic use HFOs. HFOs also produce higher sulphur and nitrogen oxide emissions and black carbon. Switching from HFO to low-sulphur distillate fuels would reduce Black Carbon emissions between 30-80%.
During the meeting, Ms. Koperqualuk made a presentation outlining the ways in which Inuit regions are supportive of a ban on HFOs in Arctic waters. This is consistent with the July, 2018 ICC Utqiaġvik Declaration, Article 18, that directs ICC to: “advocate for the enforcement of the IMO Polar Code, other international and national regulations, advance emergency response, and phase out HFO in order to minimise impacts on marine mammals and fish and to prevent disruption of seasonal hunting, and for safety and environmental protection.”
Koperqualuk added, “This must be done without putting undue cost or burden on our communities.”
“There is still much work to be done”, said Dr Prior, “before the Arctic ecosystem and Indigenous local communities are afforded the same level of protection as Antarctic waters from the risks of heavy fuel oil. It is imperative that when the PPR Sub-Committee meets again in early 2020, it finalises the development of a new regulation to ban HFO use and carriage as fuel in the Arctic”.
Canada and Russia have both supported IMO work to consider ways to mitigate risks and harm caused by HFO but Canada has yet to take an official position on a ban. Russia has considered a ban as being a "last resort". However, Sovcomflot, the Russian state-owned shipping company has spoken openly about the need to move away from oil-based fuels.
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