Parvati Foundation Calls on Prime Minister Trudeau to Cancel Seismic Testing
Canadian environmental not-for-profit Parvati Foundation applauds U.S. President Barack Obama for denying six pending applications to conduct airgun seismic surveys in the Atlantic Ocean. The decision was based on a number of factors including “a diminished need for additional seismic survey information”, and recognizing that the value of seismic information “does not outweigh the potential risks of those surveys’ acoustic pulse impacts on marine life.”¹
Seismic testing uses sonic blasts to look for oil and gas deposits buried deep under the seabed. Marine mammals, who communicate through sonar, are known to suffer hearing loss, disruption of mating, feeding and migration patterns, beach strandings and even death, after seismic blasting is carried out in their vicinity. Seismic testing is risky and reckless in light of the humanitarian and ecological crisis facing the entire world. Arctic Ocean reserves are unburnable under any scenario that limits global warming to “well below 2º C” as stipulated in the COP21 Paris Agreement.
In late December 2016, President Obama and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced their joint decision to avoid future oil and gas activity in the Arctic Ocean. President Obama also protected large portions of the Atlantic outer continental shelf from oil and gas drilling, resulting in the denial of the six seismic testing permits.
But seismic blasting is still set for Canada’s fragile Arctic waters in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait – the same waters Prime Minister Trudeau has agreed will be “indefinitely” protected from future oil and gas drilling. Such testing is inconsistent with Prime Minister Trudeau’s decision to protect the Arctic Ocean from exploitation. So why is it still scheduled to proceed?
Parvati Foundation is calling on Prime Minister Trudeau to follow President Obama’s lead and cancel all pending seismic testing surveys in Canadian Arctic waters. “To leave our children a healthy planet, all oil interests in the Arctic Ocean, including harmful seismic testing, must cease immediately and definitively,” says Parvati Foundation founder, Canadian musician, activist and author Parvati Devi. “If Prime Minister Trudeau is truly committed to protecting the fragile Arctic Ocean ecosystem, he will immediately cancel the seismic testing scheduled for Baffin Bay and Davis Strait.”
“In addition, Prime Minister Trudeau will sign the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS) Treaty to ensure no drilling or seismic testing ever takes place in the Arctic Ocean. Exploiting this vital and fragile region in any capacity is pathological in light of the damage that has already been inflicted on it by pollution, greed and short-term thinking.
The polar ice is critical in maintaining balanced weather, which affects our global food supply, clean water, and our very safety. But it’s under serious threat. And just when world leaders and corporations must urgently commit to its protection, many instead seek to profit from its vulnerability. The very linchpin that keeps our planet’s ecosystem in balance is quickly breaking. We must act now to preserve the very thing that sustains us,” says Parvati.
The all volunteer-run not-for-profit Parvati Foundation has taken the unprecedented step of drafting an international treaty pursuant to the United Nations Law of the Sea, to realize the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS). The treaty has been translated into the six official languages of the UN, presented to the 193 UN member-states, and brought to COP21 and COP22.
MAPS: The Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary must be realized to protect our planet today, and for generations to come.
Note 1: https://www.boem.gov/press01062017/
