24 October 2018, Southampton, UK – This morning, a delegation of Arctic Indigenous leaders and marine and environmental experts delivered a petition signed by 104,000 concerned people from countries across Europe and North America, to cruise giant Carnival Corporation at its UK headquarters in Southampton, demanding that it cease burning dirty heavy fuel oil in … Read more
Even as some nations are failing to live up to the vision of the Paris Climate Agreement, leaders at the state, province, and city level, progressive companies, and many, many activists — the vanguard of change — are taking action to move our countries beyond fossil fuels. The week of September 10th, people are gathering … Read more
Did you know? Cruise giant Carnival’s Arctic ships have a dirty secret. Enticing passengers with promises of first-row tickets to the Arctic’s stunning natural wonders, few people know that Carnival’s ships are powered by one of the dirtiest fossil fuels on the planet. It’s called heavy fuel oil, and if spilled, this dirty oil would … Read more
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — As Carnival Corporation’s first ships of the season arrive in the Arctic, an international coalition of environmental groups has joined together to call on the cruise giant to stop using one of the world’s cheapest and dirtiest fossil fuels—heavy fuel oil—on ships traveling in fragile Arctic and sub-Arctic waters. July marks the … Read more
Reporting directly from London, I’m excited to tell you that yesterday was a big day for Arctic waters and wildlife. Indigenous leaders and environmental activists like me convinced the international community to adopt new rules that require ships to avoid fragile marine ecosystems, reducing the threat of oil spills, environmental disasters, and harm to wildlife … Read more
Despite the seriousness of the threat, the use of Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) by ships in the Arctic seems to have escaped the public consciousness and the media. It’s been overshadowed by more dramatic stories like melting glaciers and starving polar bears. But it should be one of the most talked about environmental concerns of … Read more
One of my most cherished gifts given to me is a beautiful sealskin vest made by my grandmother. She was from St. Lawrence Island in the northern Bering Sea between Russia and Alaska. There, life continues to be sustained by our traditions of subsistence, with blessed wildlife that has nourished our people for thousands of … Read more
Plastic trash is choking our oceans. Meet Dr. Xuan Thi Quach, who is cleaning up one of the world’s top ocean plastic polluters: Vietnam. Vietnam has a rapidly growing economy and plastic has become the material of choice. “The plastic industry in Vietnam is booming,” Xuan told me on a recent visit. “Plastic things have replaced … Read more
Last year, I accompanied Yun Jianli on a surprise visit to a wastewater treatment plant in her hometown Xiangyang in Hubei Province. We were investigating river pollution and asked the plant’s environmental manager to show us the equipment. It was noon, we were standing out in the burning sun, and I was feeling too hot … Read more
London, July 7, 2017:- As the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 71) concluded today, the Clean Arctic Alliance welcomed the support from Member States for a proposal to identify measures which will mitigate the risks posed by the use of heavy fuel oil (HFO) in Arctic waters, and called on the … Read more
Good news this afternoon in London: The International Maritime Organization’s (IMO’s) marine environment protection committee just approved our coalition’s proposal to deal with the issue of dangerous heavy fuel oil in the Arctic. This means there will now be international rulemaking to mitigate risks of heavy fuel oil and, hopefully, phase out this dangerous oil in the Arctic. … Read more
Washington D.C., April 18th, 2017:- A report published today by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), Alternatives to heavy fuel oil use in the Arctic: Economic and environmental tradeoffs finds that using heavy fuel oil in Arctic shipping creates such great risks compared to the cost of moving to safer fuels, that transitioning to … Read more
A world-leading expedition cruise ship operator today joined international environmental organisations to spearhead the protection of Arctic communities and ecosystems from risks posed by the use of marine heavy fuel oil (HFO) to power ships, at the Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø, Norway.
“The anticipated increase in ship traffic in the Arctic is second in magnitude only to the initial arrival of European settlers on our shores.” When my friend Austin Ahmasuk, a leader from Nome, Alaska, said this, it really hit me just how dramatically the world is changing for Arctic indigenous peoples whose lives are inextricably … Read more
Imagine: A local villager admitting that she accepted a color TV from the owner of a factory that is polluting a nearby river. Environmental officials questioning pollution data presented by a local environmental group, shouting, “Where does your data come from? Why is this the first time we are seeing this?” Similar incidents happen all … Read more
When a mine leaks heavy metals into drinking water supply in China, or when school children fall sick due to contaminated soil, or when a factory exceeds its pollution permits for the 79th day in a row, whose job is it to respond? Technically, these kinds of problems are the responsibility of China’s environmental enforcement … Read more
President Obama made history last summer by being the first sitting president to visit the Arctic, speaking passionately about climate change and focusing on Arctic challenges. Phasing out the use of heavy fuel oil by the increased number of ships now transiting the Arctic is an urgent challenge that can be readily addressed and reduce the top risk identified to Arctic communities and fragile marine environments.
By: Deng Ping and Kristen McDonald Originally published in The Huffington Post What is one sure-fire way to reduce devastating pollution in China, decrease carbon emissions and stabilize the economy? Cool down the country’s overheated coal industry. And in fact, that’s exactly what energy and development regulators are trying to do. Let’s review some recent … Read more
As polar ice recedes, increased Arctic vessel traffic increases the urgency to craft protections for fragile Arctic marine environments and communities.
When plans moved forward to build another dam across the heavily polluted Xiang River, members of Green Hunan’s volunteer network dressed up in white hazmat suits to alert the public to a major threat: The section of the river that would fill the reservoir had been used for decades as the city of Changsha’s sewage … Read more