MPU, Alm.del - 2009-10 - Bilag 715: Henvendelse af 10/8-10 vedrørende olieboringer på OSPAR-mødet d. 20.24/9-10, fra Greenpeace

Ban on New Deep Sea DrillingAppeal to bring about a decision at the forthcoming Ministerial Meeting on the OSPARConvention (Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-EastAtlantic) in Bergen, Norway, from 20 to 24 September 2010Dear Karen Ellemann,The oil disaster caused by BP and partner businesses in the Gulf of Mexico and the persistentefforts to contain the oil spill even three months after the Deepwater Horizon rig burned andsank clearly demonstrate the high environmental, socioeconomic and safety risks associatedwith deep sea drilling. Not only have at least 11 people died because of the disaster andthousands of fishermen lost their livelihoods, but many seabirds, marine reptiles and fish havedied and likely will continue to die, even once the leak itself is permanently stopped. It is alreadyclear that the accident has caused widespread and locally severe damage to coastal andmarine ecosystems, some of which may persist well into the future. The scale and severity ofadverse effects in the water column and at the seabed, the geographic scale of the damage andthe potential for impacts of both oil and dispersant chemicals through the food web remainunknown.An incident of a similar nature and scale occurring elsewhere (in the Arctic, for example) and/orat a different time could have far greater and more persistent impacts, and may be even lessamenable to shut-off, containment and spill response than in the relatively well resourced Gulfarea. As we know from past experience, large oil spills can leave legacies of environmentalpollution which are detectable even decades later.Greenpeace defines the deep sea as being more than 200 metres deep because a diver can nolonger work or repair any damage this far below the surface. Since there are already severalhundred deep sea drill holes around the world, and more planned as the search for oil extendsever further offshore and into more remote and extreme environments, the risk of further majoraccidents and leaks of a similar nature to the Deepwater Horizon is very real. A shift away fromthis risky course, which is technically unmanageable and an unacceptable threat to the marineenvironment and the global climate, is urgently needed.Additionally, drilling activities authorised in the OSPAR maritime area would run contrary torecent commitments agreed by Parties to the Convention. At the OSPAR Ministerial Meetingheld in Bremen in 2003, Ministers expressed particular concerns about the status of vulnerablecold-water coral reefs within the OSPAR area and endorsed efforts to create an 'ecologicallycoherent network of well managed Marine Protected Areas'by 2010, taking account of thelinkages between marine species, habitats and ecological processes in the region. Allowing anyexpansion of deep water drilling would seriously threaten the effectiveness of such a network,and would run contrary to the obligations contracted by members to this Convention to providemarine ecosystems with the necessary level of protection from human activities.

Furthermore, Greenpeace notes that the northern part of OSPAR Area I, which has historicallybeen covered by year-round sea ice, is particularly vulnerable. This area is largely unmappedand not well understood scientifically. For this reason, there should be a moratorium on allindustrial activities in this area, while further research is conducted and a suitable protectionregime developed.Therefore, recognising the general obligations incumbent upon all Contracting Parties to theOSPAR Convention (1992) to “take all possible steps to prevent and eliminate pollution” and to“take the necessary measures to protect the maritime area against the adverse effects ofhuman activities so as to safeguard human health and to conserve marine ecosystems”, and theadditional obligation to take preventative measures under the precautionary principle whenthere are reasonable grounds for concern, Greenpeace is calling upon all Ministers attendingthe forthcoming Ministerial segment of the OSPAR Commission Meeting (North-East AtlanticEnvironment Summit) in Bergen, Norway (22-24 September 2010):1. to ensure that deep sea drilling is a substantive item on the agenda of theCommission Meeting (20-24 September) and of the Ministerial segment itself2. to support an immediate moratorium on deep sea drilling for oil or gas within theOSPAR area, to be agreed at the forthcoming session as recently proposed by GermanEnvironment Minister Norbert Röttgen1 and3. to consider legislative options to convert such a measure into a permanent ban ondeep water drilling in due course.We are looking forward to hearing from you and to substantive progress being made to preventa Deepwater Horizon-style disaster in the OSPAR region in Bergen in September.Yours sincerely,