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
London, May 17, 2019 – As a meeting of the International Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 74) closed today in London, the Clean Arctic Alliance expressed frustration over Members States’ failure to address the risk to the Arctic from emissions of black carbon from international shipping [1]. A proposal by the Clean Shipping Coalition … Read more
As IMO meets this week in London, groups issue call to reevaluate scrubbers as alternative compliance tool for 2020 fuel standards, citing evidence in US federal case against Carnival Corporation.
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
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
London, February 22, 2019 – As a meeting of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR 6) closes today in London, the Clean Arctic Alliance welcomed progress but calls on Arctic Nations Russia and Canada to step-up to their responsibilities by adding their support for a ban on heavy fuel oil (HFO) … 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
SAN FRANCISCO — A groundbreaking new interactive map released today by the international Clean Up Carnival coalition shows that nearly half of Carnival Corporation cruise ships traveling through the Arctic and Subarctic pass near or through critical habitats for marine mammals including orca, walrus, and bowhead, narwhal, and beluga whales. The map details information 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
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
Will you chip in to help us meet our goal of raising $1,000 this #GivingTuesday? Every gift helps. Your #GivingTuesday donation will help support 4 waste audits in January 2019. Why waste audits? Because they are a critical first step to designing zero waste solutions that will help cut down on ocean plastic pollution. By sorting through … Read more
It’s a strange time. And not just the political time we live in. I’m writing from Chongqing, China, where the air quality is wonderful and “healthy” (a green color for those of you familiar with the conventions of air quality maps). And I’m reading about my family and friends in California and the San Francisco … Read more
This #GivingTuesday, will you help us combat ocean plastic pollution? The holiday season is just around the corner, and I want to invite you to kick it off with us on #GivingTuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. #GivingTuesday is a global day of giving and a great opportunity to support a cause close to your heart … Read more
Southeast Asia, and especially Vietnam, is becoming the world’s new dumping ground. Following China’s recent import ban on recyclables, the influx of shipments of international plastic waste has been outpacing the construction of recycling facilities, piling up in Vietnam’s ports and triggering a temporary ban on plastic imports this past summer. Will Vietnam hold strong … Read more