Q GLOBAL NEWS CURRENTS


Global powers ban fi shing in the central Arctic Ocean


04


World Bank Group to cease lending for oil exploration


The World Bank Group has announced that it will stop fi nancing oil and gas exploration projects starting in 2019. In a statement issued at the One Planet


Summit in Paris, the bank said it will only consider making exceptions for gas exploration in nations where “there is a clear benefi t in terms of energy access for the poor and the project fi ts within the countries’ Paris Agreement commitments”. The summit was hosted by the French


president Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee presidential palace, with 164 world leaders and business fi gures in attendance. As part of its efforts to combat climate


change, the World Bank Group also vowed to ensure that environmental accountability is maintained across its own operations. Beginning in 2018, it said it will report greenhouse gas emissions from the investment projects that it fi nances in high-emissions sectors, such as energy. The fi rst results will be made public late


next year, with audits to be made public on an annual basis thereafter. The bank claims it is on track to have at least


28% of its lending dedicated towards climate action initiatives by the end of the decade. An estimated two per cent of the bank’s


existing $280bn lending portfolio is made up of oil and gas projects.


Nine nations and the European Union have agreed to ban commercial fi shing in the central Arctic Ocean (CAO) for a minimum of 16 years. The moratorium was signed by offi cials


from Norway, Russia, Iceland, Greenland, Canada, the United States, South Korea, China, Japan, and the EU following a sixth negotiating session in Washington DC. There are currently no fi sheries in the


CAO, which extends across 2.8 million square kilometres — an area that is roughly the size of the Mediterranean Sea. However, increased melting of sea ice in


recent summers has created open water in as much as 40% of the region covered by the newly-agreed moratorium. International law currently permits


fi shing in these waters in the absence of an agreement to the contrary. The pact will allow scientists to study the


existing marine ecosystem in the Arctic before it is impacted by commercial activity. “For the fi rst time, nations are committing to scientifi c research in a high seas area before commercial fi shing


begins,” explains Scott Highleyman, vice-president of conservation policy and programmess at the non-profi t Ocean Conservancy, who also served on the US delegation that worked on the moratorium. “This action recognizes both the pace of


change in the Arctic due to climate change, as well as the tradition of Arctic cooperation across international boundaries.” While the initial term of the moratorium


is 16 years, it will automatically be extended every fi ve years unless a country objects or until research-based fi sheries quotas are put in place.


40% Increased melting of sea ice


in recent summers has created open water in up to 40% of


the region covered by the moratorium


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