A recent Alaska Native-led statewide gathering in Fairbanks—Kohtr’elneyh Remembering Forward: A Strategic Framework for a Just Transition—explored a hopeful and provocative approach to transforming Alaska’s oil-dependent extractive economy to one that is ecologically sustainable, equitable, and just. The summit centered on learning from the traditional knowledge of Indigenous peoples—living in balance with the land, adapting … Read more
In this letter, six environmental groups – Pacific Environment, the Clean Shipping Coalition, EcoDes, EDF, Clima e Sociedade (iCS), and WWF – congratulate Kitack Lim on his election to a second term as the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization. They call on him to put all his efforts in 2020 into adopting effective global … Read more
Yu Jianfeng recently started fighting “white pollution,” as people in China call plastic pollution based on the ubiquity of discarded white plastic bags. “Plastic is a really big problem for rivers,” he said. “It is eaten by fish and other wildlife and its toxic chemicals can move up the food chain. It affects individual species, … Read more
When recently a pod of 100 dolphins swam through Cu Lao Cham Marine Protected Area (MPA) off the coast of Central Vietnam, it got residents and park officials talking. It had been a long time since people spotted marine mammals in the coastal waters. Development and fishing had driven them away. “Maybe a big typhoon … Read more
Did you know that about 90% of the goods you consume are transported across the world by ships? Many of those ships are powered by dirty fossil fuels that pollute our air and oceans and worsen the climate crisis. Join us this #GivingTuesday to get ships off of dirty and outdated fossil fuels. Help us … Read more
Earlier this month, I was in a rural area of China, up in a mountain village whose residents—mostly small-plot farmers and proprietors of small tourist hostels—had agreed to participate in a project to try to reduce the plastic waste of the village. The villagers quickly learned that almost all their waste was plastic waste from … Read more
Seeds planted over the past decade by communities in Vietnam have now borne fruit: the nation’s leadership has announced the intent to do something about the country’s plastic trash problem. On June 9, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc launched a campaign to fight plastic pollution, pledging to ban single-use plastic nationwide by 2025. With … Read more
Dear Mr. Kitack Lim, International Maritime Organization Secretary-General: We are writing to draw your urgent attention to new information regarding the efficacy of Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS) to meet the standards set forth in MARPOL Annex VI, Regulation 4 for emissions reductions equivalencies. Scrubbers have been referred to as “emissions cheat” systems and for … Read more
Updated February 13, 2020 — The Guide to IMO is a resource for anyone looking to get a crash course in what the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is and how it operates. In the guide, you will find descriptions of committees and sub-committees, section by section summaries of key IMO instruments (like the Polar Code), … Read more
Imagine: Sheer walls of blue ice wedge their way through mountains to meet the sea. Humpback whales rise to the surface to feed on gulps of herring and krill. Seagulls flock to the whales’ cavernous open mouths to snatch a meal. Small coastal communities that live as one with the land and sea. For more … Read more
Earth’s northern waters are home to some of the most unique wildlife. From a swimming unicorn to a melonheaded friendly ghost to a super intelligent creature named for the Roman god of the underworld.* And if you ever wondered which one you would be, we’ve got you covered. Check out the personality quiz below and … Read more
From the Arctic to Asia Pacific, this year we are celebrating marine life. Check out our new video to see how much our lives depend on healthy oceans. Pacific Environment and our local partners protect critical habitat for marine species in the Arctic and Pacific oceans. We help establish protective zones that allow threatened wildlife … Read more
We live in remarkable, stressful times. The last five years have been recorded as the five hottest on record, worldwide. Reports are coming in that an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius may come even sooner than we thought. Worrying news is reaching us from the Arctic and Antarctic ice caps, and from the Himalayas, about … Read more
Do you love the Arctic and its unique ocean wildlife? So do I, but Carnival Corporation, which claims to value a clean environment and sustainability, threatens to destroy everything we love about the Arctic. How? This new interactive map shows that Carnival’s cruise ships travel across Arctic and Alaskan waters fueled by the dirtiest fossil fuel on … Read more
Here are seven accomplishments I’m especially proud of this year. They would not have been possible without your generosity and passion. We won strong international protections for Arctic and Alaskan communities and wildlife. New rules now require ships to avoid fragile marine ecosystems around three islands in the Bering Sea (Nunivak Island, St. Lawrence Island, and King Island)—reducing the … Read more
Now, more than ever, we depend on the courage and dedicated activism of grassroots activists like you. As our own government is denying climate change and allowing polluters to pump more toxins into our water, our food, and our bodies, it’s up to you and me and others like us to fight for our future. … Read more
Last February, Indigenous and environmental allies and I sat at a table in London with international policy makers. We had a proposal between us to protect communities and wildlife in the Bering Strait and Sea from increased ship traffic. At that moment, years of advocacy and community organizing hung by a thread. In a surprise … Read more
Many cultures worship the lone hero who overcomes terrible obstacles in the fight for justice. True leadership, however, empowers others to become strong leaders alongside oneself. For years, Liu Sheng fought hard to protect the Xiang River in his hometown in Hunan Province from toxic pollution. He and his team at Green Hunan, an environmental … Read more
Chances are that the clothes you’re wearing, the device you’re reading this on, and much of what you have in your home has spent some time on a ship. In fact, more than 80% of all goods traded globally are carried by ship. Product components are bouncing back and forth across oceans as they are … Read more
There are 8 billion tons of plastic on the planet. And once it’s made—it never goes away. So, where does it go? In Vietnam, it often ends up in the ocean. Dinh Thi Hang was born and raised in iconic Ha Long Bay, a city that is changing rapidly. New businesses, convention centers, restaurants, and … Read more
