THE ARCTIC COMMITMENT As of April 2018, signatories to the Arctic Commitment include: • Eyak Preservation Council • The Urgenda Foundation • Defenders of Wildlife • Arctic Basecamp Davos • Oceana • Sir Ranulph Fiennes Polar Explorer • Audubon Alaska • Jonathan Bradshaw Polar Advocate and Author • International Cryosphere Climate Initiative • Graeme G Kelleher Ocean Elder • Native Land Conservancy • Eric Philips Director of Icetrek Expeditions and President of the • Association of Arctic Expedition Inter national Polar Guides Association Cruise Operators • Alain Hubert Explorer and President • Lewis Pugh UNEP Patron of the Oceans of the International Polar Foundation and Polar Swimmer • Sirpa Pietikäinen MEP • Bernice Notenboom Explorer, Film maker and Journalist • Ocean Expeditions • Svein Tveitdal UNEP Director and • Maritime LNG Platform CEO of Klima2020 • Kawerak, Inc. • Adventure Canada • Dutch Association of Captains • International Windship Association for Merchant Shipping • Bas Eickhout MEP • Inuit Circumpolar Council Greenland • Global Ocean Trust • Antarctic and Southern Ocean • Hafnasambandid Associated Coalition Icelandic Ports • Swedish Society for Nature • Faxaports Conservation • Visit Svalbard • Merja Kyllönen MEP • Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft • IKEA Supply AG Bancroft Arnesen Explore • Arctic Security Consultants • GoodFuels Marine • Claudio Boezio Utopia Navalis • BICEPS Network • Magnus Johannesson Former Director, • Linking Tourism & Conservation Arctic Council Secretariat • Oceano Azul Foundation • Carol Devine Explorer, Writer, Speaker, Humanitarian • Callum Roberts Professor of Marine Conservation • Joaquín Araujo Naturalist and Writer • Polar Research and Policy Initiative • Rosa Martinez Member of Parliament for Bizkaia Region • Kristina Gjerde High Seas Advocate • Fernando Moleres Current Affairs and • Davor Škrlec MEP Human Rights Photographer • Enkhuizen Nautical College • Paco Gómez Photographer and Writer • Ruud Koornstra Energy Commissioner • Alianza por el Clima of the Netherlands • Jorge Riechmann Associate Professor, • Professor Dan Laffoley Ocean Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Conservationist • Carolina Punset MEP • Xabier Benito Ziluaga MEP • Heinz Otto German Wind Energy • Women4Oceans Association • Blue Climate Solutions • Avataq Greenland’s Association for • Oceanwide Expeditions Nature and Environment • eXXpedition CIC • Zaria Forman Artist • Emily Penn Ocean Advocate & Skipper • Xavier Pastor Oceanographer and Former Director of Greenpeace Spain • Aurora Expeditions • Valentín Carrera Journalist and Writer • Lindblad Expeditions • George Monbiot Journalist, • Bremenports GmbH & Co. KG Environmentalist, and Writer • Tiemo Wölken MEP • Rosa M. Tristán Environmental • Eco-union Mediterranean Journalist Association for Green Economy • Pen Hadow Director, Arctic Mission/ Transition 90° North Unit Ltd • Ecologistas en Acción • Derrick Armstrong Professor, • Javier Benayas Professor, Universidad The University of the South Pacific Autónoma de Madrid and Antarctic • Micronesian Center for Sustainable Researcher Transport THE ARCTIC COMMITMENT The Arctic is one of the few regions of the threats to the Arctic environment. HFO is world that has remained largely untouched an extremely viscous and toxic fuel and the by large-scale industrial development. This potential for an HFO spillage poses a major largely pristine environment is nonetheless risk to Arctic marine ecosystems and to the host to millions of people with rich, often communities that depend upon these. The ancient cultures as well as a great diversity combustion of HFO produces high levels of ecosystems and marine life. The Arctic of air pollutants, including black carbon, is also of major global importance due to that are harmful to human health and its crucial role in regulating world weather act as powerful regional climate change patterns and ocean currents. accelerators. However, climate change poses significant In recognition of the serious impacts and challenges to this vulnerable environment associated risks of HFO use in polar regions, due to the rapid melting of Arctic sea the Inter national Maritime Organization ice. These changes lead to the prospect (IMO) has already amended the MARPOL of considerable growth in Arctic marine Convention to ban the use and carriage of traffic as new sea routes become gradually heavy grade oils by ships in the Antarctic. accessible. It is imperative that we acknowledge the Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) is, by volume, the grave risks to the Arctic environment and most commonly used shipping fuel in the beyond and call for mitigation measures, Arctic and the Arctic Council has catego- including a phase-out of HFO use for Arctic rised its use as one of the most significant shipping. We, the undersigned CALL UPON the international community emissions of particulate matter, including to acknowledge the importance and vulner- black carbon, which accelerates the warm- ability of the Arctic region and to pledge to ing of the Arctic and the melting of ice; protect this unique environment; ALSO RECOGNISING the harmful impact ACKNOWLEDGING the uniqueness of heavy fuel oil combustion upon human, of the Arctic region; the diversity of its animal and plant life in the Arctic regions ecosystems and the richness of its peoples’ due to the high emissions of sulphur and cultures; nitrogen oxide, sulphates and other harm- ful forms of pollution; RECOGNISING that development needs to take place at a pace and on a scale that UNDERLINING the considerable opera- is supportable by the fragile and changing tional risks inherent in Arctic maritime navi- Arctic ecosystems; gation and, with these, a heightened risk of environmentally disastrous HFO spills; UNDERSTANDING the Arctic’s important role in the regulation of the global climate, ACKNOWLEDGING the potentially grave notably its role in helping to maintain consequences for Arctic marine ecosystems stable global temperatures; in the event of a heavy fuel oil spill due to its high viscosity making it virtually impos- NOTING WITH CONCERN the rapid sible to clean up in the cold, ice infested melting of the Arctic sea ice and the alarm- and often inaccessible waters of the Arctic, ing projected rise in global sea levels; with potentially disastrous consequences AWARE OF the particular vulnerability of for Arctic marine wildlife, ecosystems and the Arctic environment; its peoples, wildlife communities; and ecosystems, to the effects of climate RECALLING that the Polar Code encourag- change, particularly the melting of polar ice; es ships not to use or carry heavy fuel oil in NOTING the rapid expected growth of ship the Arctic; traffic in the Arctic region and that most of AGREEING that a switch from the use of the fuel carried by vessels in the Arctic is heavy fuel oil to cleaner fuel types by ships heavy fuel oil; and the application of adequate emission RECOGNISING the harmful impact of reduction technology would significantly heavy fuel oil combustion on the Arctic advance the objective of protecting the environment, resulting in particularly high Arctic marine environment; Call for a phase-out of the use of heavy fuel oil by ships in a timely manner and urge Inter national Maritime Organization Member States and stakeholders to advance this goal. We invite you to join the movement. If you would like to sign the Arctic Commitment, please contact us at: [email protected] WHO WILL STEP UP TO THE ARCTIC COMMITMENT? #HFOFreeArctic The Arctic Commitment is an initiative launched in January 2017 by the Clean Arctic Alliance * and Hurtigruten * The Clean Arctic Alliance is made up of 18 not-for-profit organisations committed to phasing out the use of HFO as marine fuel in the Arctic: Clean Arctic Alliance Alaska Wilderness League | Bellona | Clean Air Task Force | © Danish Ecological Council | ECODES | Environmental Investigation Agency | European Climate Foundation | Friends of the Earth US | Greenpeace | Iceland Nature Conservation Association | Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union | Ocean Conservancy | Pacific Environment | Seas At Risk | Stand.earth | Surfrider Foundation Europe | Transport & Environment | WWF Dr. Dmitry Yumashev | Illustration (back): | Illustration Dmitry Yumashev Dr. For more information please visit: © http://www.hfofreearctic.org/en/arctic-commitment Photo (front):.