Push continues to ban dirty fuel in the Arctic

The International Maritime Organization, the United Nations agency responsible for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution, renewed its call this week to phase-out the use of heavy fuel oil, or HFO, in the Arctic. Indigenous representatives, including Lisa Koperqualuk of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (right) and Vernet Wilson of Friends of the Earth U.S. (left), joined the International Maritime Organization’s secretary-general, Kitack Lim, at the High Level Conference on Climate Change and Oceans Preservation, in Brussels on Feb. 19. Lim told IMO delegates that it is “imperative that the organization takes robust action to reduce the risks to the Arctic marine environment associated with the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil as fuel by ships.” Read more later about the discussions set to wrap up on Friday. (Photo courtesy of the Clean Arctic Alliance)