Tuesday, July 9, 2002, Oslo:
Greenpeace today called on the Norwegian Minister of the Environment to overturn approval given by the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (SFT) for 5.4 tonnes of liquid carbon dioxide (CO2) to be dumped at sea. The controversial experiment has already been rejected by Hawaii and opens the door to illegal ocean dumping of CO2.
The dumping of industrial waste at sea, including CO2 derived from fossil fuel use, is illegal under both the London Convention and the OSPAR Convention. If Norway approves this test it will be a first step towards allowing industrial dumping of CO2 at sea - which would break these international laws and encourage even further use of climate-changing fossil fuels.
"The sea is not a dumping ground. It's illegal to dump nuclear or toxic waste at sea, and it's illegal to dump CO2 - the fossil fuel industry's waste," said Truls Gulowsen, Greenpeace Norway climate campaigner.
CO2 is the world's biggest industrial waste product. Most comes from the burning of oil, coal and gas and it is the primary cause of climate change.
"Ocean dumping is not a solution to the problem of climate change. It will never be possible to guarantee that this waste will not return to the atmosphere, creating a climate time bomb for future generations," said Gulowsen. "The real solution to climate change is to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy such as solar and wind power."
A consortium of research institutions from Norway, Japan, Australia, the USA and Canada are proposing to undertake the first large scale CO2 ocean dumping experiment from late July to early August 2002, at 800 meters depth in the Norwegian Sea. The test has been funded from government bodies in these countries, as well as from ABB Corporate Research, and has support from the coal industry. It was rejected in Hawaii because of public protest.
"It's no surprise that the USA, Australia and Canada are supporting this project: These governments are now known as the Filthy Three for their blatent undermining of international agreements including climate change and the Earth Summit," said Gulowsen. "However, we are surprised that Norway once again is volunteering to be their tool in derailing international agreements and promoting continued use of fossil fuels".
Several other environmental organisations in Norway, including WWF and Friends of the Earth have also opposed the project. The Union of Concerned Scientists (a US based scientists-group) is opposed to ocean dumping of CO2: According to the USC: "In light of the ecological risks of carbon sequestration in the deep oceans, and the unproven long-term benefits of this approach, UCS believes that further research of this approach should be abandoned."
Isaac Harp, a fisherman and the President of Hawaii's Coalition Against CO2 Dumping, a grass roots group that stopped two attempts to test the disposal of carbon dioxide CO2in the ocean waters near Hawaii said: "In their attempts to justify continued use of fossil fuels, fossil fuel-supporters are seeking methods to CO2 in the world's oceans. This must be stopped, as there are so many other ways to combat climate change that are not nearly as insane as this approach."
For more information:
Truls Gulowsen on + 47 22 20 8379, mobile +47 9010 7904
Louise Fraser on +61 2 6653 7436, mobile +61 409 993 568
For more information from the Coalition to Stop CO2 Dumping (Hawaii) contact Isaac Harp at +1 808 661-4527
Read the Greenpeace position paper on ocean dumping of CO2 at http://www.greenpeace.to/pdfs/co2dump.pdf.
