LETTER

New Arctic Council invites big polluters in

 

As the Arctic Economic Council (AEC) hosted its inaugural meeting in Iqaluit last fall, Greenpeace Arctic Campaigner Farrah Khan reflected on the forum created under Canada’s pro-industry chairmanship: “The Arctic Economic Council has raised concerns from both inside and outside the Arctic Council’s exclusive inner circle since the idea was introduced at the start of Canada’s chairmanship. It has evolved into an access pass for big oil to assert direct influence over Arctic decision makers, allowing some of the world’s biggest polluters to sit at the same table as Arctic political leaders.

 

“For the second time this year, Minister Aglukkaq has criticized Greenpeace. But, while she hosts closed-door meetings with some of the biggest polluters on the planet, we are cleaning up oil spills in the north of Russia, and are helping to raise awareness about the harms of seismic testing that threaten Baffin Bay. “Inviting the vice-president of Rosneft, the oil company with the worst environmental record ever and responsible for more than 2,700 oil spills per year, to the Arctic Economic Council to discuss sustainable development is an outright contradiction.”

 

Diego Creimer

Greenpeace Canada, Montreal