How Does Shipping Impact Public Health?

September 26^th was World Maritime Day, an occasion meant to mark the importance of the world’s maritime shipping industry. And it’s hugely important: At any given moment, there are more than 50,000 ships crossing the ocean or loading or unloading at ports around the world. These ships transport 90% of all global trade, and in the United States, 95% of cargo arrives by ship. That means if you look around you, most of what you see probably traveled at some point on a ship. Much of modern life as we know it would not be possible without the maritime shipping industry, but alongside its benefits come devastating impacts.

Altogether, the shipping industry emits an estimated 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases every year. To put that in perspective, if the global shipping industry was a country, it would be the sixth largest polluter in the world. Shipping fuels climate change, warms our ocean and harms marine wildlife with noise and ship strikes—and it also has terrible public health ramifications. 

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In the United States, we have more than 360 ports, where ships from all over the world unload and load goods, often idling with their engines on and continuing to spew some of the dirtiest pollutants into the air. The scale of this pollution can be staggering. Take the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach: Together, they handle 40% of containers entering the United States, and they also produce 100 tons of smog every day. That’s more than the daily emissions of the six million cars in the Southern California region. 

We know that this industry’s impact on public health is immense. In the United States, approximately 39 million people live in close proximity to a port, and emissions from vessels and port activities contribute to poor air quality in surrounding areas. This air pollution has been found to lead to respiratory diseases, cardiovascular issues, and other health problems among port workers and community members. This is also a justice issue: Port communities, which are often lower-income and communities of color, bear a disproportionate share of these impacts due to their proximity to these pollution hotspots. Globally, emissions from the shipping industry cause an estimated 250,000 premature deaths and six million childhood asthma cases each year. 

We must act to clean up this industry now. That’s why one year ago, Ocean Conservancy, along with 31 other organizations, called on the Biden administration to issue an executive order to accelerate zero-emission shipping in the United States and abroad. In that letter we outlined seven specific time-bound actions for decarbonizing the maritime sector:

• Use existing Clean Air Act authority to establish a clear timeline for eliminating emissions through a goal-based fuel standard for ships stopping at U.S. ports.
• Build a baseline for emissions management by immediately establishing a monitoring, reporting and verification system to collect fuel consumption and emissions data from all ships that traverse U.S. waters and use U.S. ports.
• Invest in the electrification and quieting of the U.S. federal ferry and harbor craft fleet.
• Support U.S. shipbuilders and other maritime actors to build low-/zero-emission and quiet marine vessels.
• Support the development of zero-emission alternative fuels and technologies for the maritime sector.
• Phase out and ban the use of sulfur scrubbers on ships in U.S. waters.

Since that letter was sent last World Maritime Day, support for an executive order has only grown. In June 2024, more than 60 total organizations and eight companies in the shipping industry had signed on to our call. The message also got the attention of Congress, which echoed this call for action: In July, Representative Nanette Barragán led a group of 16 members of Congress to submit their own letter to the Biden administration in support of executive action. And in the past year, more than 27,000 Ocean Conservancy supporters have joined us in calling on the president to clean up the shipping industry.  

It’s time for the Biden administration to solidify its legacy as a champion for climate and public health and issue an executive order to clean up the shipping industry. Take action now and urge the Biden administration to clean up the shipping industry.

The post How Does Shipping Impact Public Health? appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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Protecting the Central Arctic Ocean

September is a time for end-of-summer traditions, whether it is a back-to-school ritual or one last camping trip to soak up the last of the summer sun. In the Arctic, the end of summer is marked by a very ordinary event: the sea ice minimum. One day this month, more Arctic sea ice will form than melts. And the annual pattern of increased Arctic sea ice will begin, culminating in ice packs that stretch from the Central Arctic Ocean to the coastal seas along the shores of Russia, Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Norway.  

People have lived along the shores of the Arctic Ocean for thousands of years. Arctic residents are very familiar with this pattern of sea ice melting in the warmer season and refreezing in the cold months. In fact, Arctic ecosystems, marine wildlife and people are organized around this annual cycle.

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What’s quite extraordinary, however, is where this freezing is starting:  much nearer to the North Pole than the coasts. That’s because the Central Arctic Ocean—covered in sea ice year-round for much of my lifetime—now features increasing amounts of open water at the end of the Arctic summer. 

The Central Arctic Ocean, 1.1 million square miles of international waters surrounding the North Pole, lies at the heart of the Arctic. Yet until sea ice began its unprecedented retreat, it was completely covered in ice year-round. In 2007, even Arctic experts were caught by surprise when they discovered 40% of it was open water in September. The same occurred in 2012. Other years varied widely from low to high. 

The precise number for lowest sea ice extent in 2024 will be determined after the fact when all the satellite measurements are in. But looking at daily numbers through today, 2024 won’t be the lowest on record—maybe “just” the sixth lowest. Yet, we can see the bigger picture when we look across multiple years of data. In the last 10 years, for example, an average of 20.5 % of the Central Arctic Ocean was open water in September. This is the highest amount in the satellite record which showed less than 1% as open water in the decades before 1994. 

As interesting as they are, these numbers do not adequately describe how radical a shift this represents for the Arctic Ocean and for human interactions with it.  

High seas are defined as parts of the ocean beyond 200 nautical miles of coasts. Although most high seas areas are much less studied and understood than coastal seas, the Central Arctic Ocean stands out as one of the least understood marine environments on Earth. As we learn more, we are realizing that it is also one of the most important. 

Expeditions have mapped new deepwater corals and seamounts, discovered new species of plankton found nowhere else on Earth, and found much more biological activity beneath the ice in winter than scientists ever expected. Measurements have confirmed that the Central Arctic Ocean is the world’s quietest ocean. And new studies confirm that changes to Arctic sea ice contribute to alteration of the jet stream, leading to more extreme weather events thousands of miles away.

While high seas areas have slowly become subject to some codes of conduct for human behavior, the sudden (on a geological scale) melting of sea ice creates a new risk. Industries and nations interested in the Central Arctic Ocean will arrive ahead of both science and common sense rule-making. 

Arctic coastal nations are asserting ownership of more than 95% of the seabed underlying the Central Arctic Ocean—meaning deep-sea mining could occur. And the Central Arctic Ocean has been proposed as a shortcut for industrial goods to connect factories to global markets along a Transpolar Shipping Route. Yet no adequate knowledge or rules are in place for either of these industries to operate safely in such an extreme and globally important place. 

When faced with a similar threat to the Central Arctic Ocean from the potential start of commercial fishing, the global community negotiated an international agreement to place a binding moratorium on high-seas fishing in the Central Arctic Ocean. This agreement established a multinational cooperative research program, recognized the special relationship Arctic Indigenous peoples have to the Arctic and ensured their active participation in implementation of the agreement. Coming into force in 2021, the ten signatory countries are now planning joint research using science and Indigenous Knowledge to better understand the Central Arctic Ocean. 

As the Arctic days shorten, sea ice is beginning to grow again. But if we want our children to understand this very ordinary cycle in the Arctic, we need to take extraordinary action to protect the Central Arctic Ocean. Learn more about what Ocean Conservancy is doing to protect this global treasure.

The post Protecting the Central Arctic Ocean appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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How Does Ghost Gear Affect Small Island Developing States?

In 2016, I first traveled to the island nation of Vanuatu with a mission: to understand the real-life impacts of ghost gear(abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear) on the local communities. 

When you look at Vanuatu’s remote location in the Pacific, I’m sure it comes as no surprise that fishing is a critical part of daily life there. In fact, some estimates have shown that over 75% of adults in Vanuatu engage in fishing of some kind, and in 2018, frozen fish fillets alone contributed to 55% of Vanuatu’s total export revenue.

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During my trip, I met with many local fishers to hear from them first-hand about the challenges they face, and in every conversation, one theme was abundantly clear: Ghost gear was threatening their way of life. 

All the fishers I met saw nets and other gear washed up on beaches, draped over coral reefs, wrapped around the propellers of their boats and littered across precious fishing grounds. And they were right to be concerned—studies have shown that ghost gear is the deadliest form of plastic pollution to marine life. In some cases, and depending on the fishery, it accounts for a loss of up to 30% in harvestable fish stocks.

Ghost gear occurs wherever fishing takes place, but there are a number of reasons that small island developing states (SIDS) such as Vanuatu are disproportionately impacted by the harms of ghost gear. 

For example, due to their limited land-based resources and remote locations, these countries are highly reliant on marine resources for food security and their economy. Therefore, when ghost gear threatens fish stocks and fishing sustainability, these countries take a greater hit to their economy and food sustainability. 

Furthermore, the geography of SIDS makes them disproportionately vulnerable to the impacts of ghost gear. The fisheries along their coastlines are often threatened by hurricanes, storm surges and other climatic hazards. Many studies have shown that storms can increase fishing gear loss. In some hurricane-prone areas, gear-loss records have reached as high as 100% annually. Additionally, many island nations are close in proximity to ocean gyres. Ocean gyres can relocate ghost gear from its original location, depositing the gear along the coasts of island and coastal nations.

For those reasons, SIDS have been some of the countries most impacted by ghost gear, but they have also been at the forefront of advocacy to find solutions to this problem. Over one-in-three government members of Ocean Conservancy’s Global Ghost Gear Initiative® (GGGI) are small island nations, including the Dominican Republic, Montserrat, Palau, Samoa, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Over the years, our GGGI has worked with several island countries across the South Pacific and Caribbean, engaging local fishers, policymakers, academia and the private sector to implement best practices to prevent, mitigate and remediate the occurrence and impacts of ghost gear. This work has involved conducting fisher surveys, trialing gear marking technologies to track gear and retrieve it should it become lost, and hosting capacity-building workshops. The insights gained from working with these communities help inform practical solutions and ensure locals are effectively engaged throughout the process.

Despite the global impact of ghost gear and its disproportionate impacts on SIDS, there is currently no dedicated international agreement in place to address its impacts. Existing guidance is fragmented and often voluntary, with varying approaches across regions and nations. 

For that reason, Ocean Conservancy is advocating for ghost gear to be included in the United Nations plastics treaty, currently under negotiation and entering its fifth and final session in November in Busan, South Korea.Ocean Conservancy and the Global Ghost Gear Initiative will continue to help lift up the voices of island nations within the negotiations and stand ready to assist with the implementation of the treaty after its ratification in 2025. Take action now—adding your name takes two minutes.

The post How Does Ghost Gear Affect Small Island Developing States? appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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Effects of Wave and Tidal Energy

Many renewable energy solutions like solar and wind, both onshore and offshore, have reached commercial scale and are being deployed widely across the globe. Now other new marine renewable energy technologies, such as wave and tidal energy, are picking up momentum and can play a critical role to complement large utility-scale energy.  

Electricity from waves and tides is generated when devices in the water harness the kinetic energy of the ocean. The technologies to capture wave and tidal energy may provide practical clean energy options for small remote island and rural coastal communities and potentially large urban cities down the road. Ocean Conservancy supports the development of responsible wave and tidal energy as these energy sources are key to a just energy transition and protect the ocean from climate change.  

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Currently most wave and tidal devices are small-scale demonstration or test projects with limited electricity generation. This is the ideal time to learn as much as we can before these futuristic generators become mainstream and widespread. 

One area of interest for me and others at Ocean Conservancy is the effect these devices might have on the surrounding environment. Because, when you see these sometimes bizarre looking metal hulks, it’s hard not to wonder what is happening below the water.  

Recently scientists released a massive report summarizing the past four years of global studies, data and the collective understanding of the effects marine renewable energy devices have on their local marine environment.  

This report, the International Energy Agency Ocean Energy Systems (OES)- Environmental 2024 State of the Science report, is published every four years and covers a range of information about potential impacts wave and tidal devices can have on the surrounding marine habitats and wildlife. These include collision risk, underwater noise, generation of electromagnetic fields, habitat changes, entanglement, oceanographic system changes (such as the decreases in wave heights or water circulation) and animal displacement (such as alteration of migratory pathways or movements) due to device operations.  

The 2024 State of the Science report concludes that, thanks to additional studies, concerns have been lowered for some of these risks, particularly for small projects (think one to six devices). These downgraded risks include the impacts of electromagnetic fields, underwater noise, habitat changes for wildlife and oceanographic system changes. This is a positive development, though more studies are still needed for small- and larger-scale projects, which can help inform strategies to avoid, mitigate and monitor for impacts on future projects. 

One of biggest remaining unknowns regarding wave and tidal devices is whether animal collisions with any of the rotating turbines or moving plates are likely to be significant, as any physical contact with wildlife could cause injury or mortality. Currently, the best practice is for developers to mitigate collision risk through careful siting away from critical habitats. For some pilot projects, video evidence has shown that animals, including mammals and fish, avoid marine and wave energy devices while in operation. The OES-Environmental report looks at this risk closely, noting that more research is needed from specific geographic areas, like tropical environments, to improve our scientific understanding. 

The OES-Environmental report also, for the first time, included a summary of interactions with human communities. The report highlights the socioeconomic effects of the physical infrastructure and industry activities which might bring new local career opportunities and increased energy resilience, along with the need to balance recreational and cultural heritage priorities. It also emphasized the need for engaging local communities early and often about project plans and progress. 

In the United States, the development of wave and tidal energy technology is gaining momentum. The federal government announced provisional funding for tidal pilot projects in Alaska and Washington this past winter and just announced a significant investment in wave energy projects this month. In addition, a bill is before Congress to boost funding for new wave and tidal projects, workforce development and help for communities to transition away from fossil fuels. All these projects could provide platforms for environmental monitoring and study. 

As marine renewable energy projects materialize across the world, technology developers, regulators and policymakers will need the valuable insights from this report. Its research and analysis provide critical support for the responsible and just development of these new clean ocean energy sources. With this global information in hand, the equitable transition to renewables and away from fossil fuels takes another step forward. 

At Ocean Conservancy, we are paving the way for a new clean ocean energy future, where we can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and protect the ocean and its wildlife and communities from the worst impacts of climate change. Take action to support the responsible development of wave and tidal energy technologies to tackle the climate crisis.

The post Effects of Wave and Tidal Energy appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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Green Ports: Transforming the Maritime Industry

Ocean Conservancy is excited to announce the launch of a groundbreaking tool designed to streamline the tracking of funding opportunities under two important pieces of legislation passed by the Biden administration, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA. The Green Ports Interactive Funding Tracker is an innovative resource that aims to empower port authorities, environmental managers and sustainability experts by providing real-time updates and comprehensive insights into available funding.

With this new tool, users can easily navigate the complexities of federal funding programs, identify relevant grant opportunities and monitor application deadlines. It consolidates information specifically for ports from the IRA and IIJA. This interactive tool also provides a user-friendly interface to search for funding options tailored to port decarbonization, infrastructure improvements and ocean conservation projects. By simplifying the tracking process, the Green Ports Interactive Funding Tracker supports ports in accessing critical resources needed to advance their sustainability goals and contribute to a healthier marine environment.

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Green ports—environmentally conscious ports that use cutting-edge technologies and best practices to minimize their ecological footprint, reduce emissions, manage waste efficiently and conserve energy—are redefining how maritime operations impact marine ecosystems. They are helping to shift the shipping industry towards sustainability and environmental responsibility.  

For instance, shore power systems can cut emissions from ships, while docked, by up to 95% .. Electric-powered cranes can reduce port-related carbon emissions by approximately 30%. By improving waste management, green ports can recycle up to 60% of port-generated waste, helping to reduce marine pollution. 

Beyond environmental benefits, green ports also offer economic advantages. These improvements attract eco-conscious shipping companies and enhance regulatory compliance. They also improve community health by improving air and water quality. Their leadership in innovation advances both maritime technology and global climate goals. The work of green ports supports international efforts to combat climate change. By adopting such innovations and green logistics strategies, green ports are preserving ocean health now and for future generations.

Funding from the IRA and the IIJA can support ocean conservation efforts at ports. The IRA provides substantial financial backing for projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote environmental sustainability. Ports can access funds for adopting cleaner fuels, enhancing energy efficiency and improving waste management systems. Similarly, the IIJA allocates significant resources for infrastructure upgrades like the implementation of green technologies and advanced pollution control systems. By leveraging funds from both acts, ports can significantly diminish their ecological footprint, protect marine ecosystems and contribute to broader climate goals.

Incorporating IRA and IIJA funds allows ports to align their development with crucial ocean conservation objectives. This financial support ensures ports are more sustainable and reduces their environmental impact. By investing in these resources, ports not only enhance their operational efficiency but also play a pivotal role in preserving ocean health. Green ports secure a sustainable future for both their facilities and the natural world.

Ocean Conservancy encourages those managing port projects to stay ahead in your sustainability efforts and make the most of available funding opportunities with this essential new tool. Visit the Green Ports Interactive Funding Tracker to get started and transform how you manage and track federal funding for your port projects.

The post Green Ports: Transforming the Maritime Industry appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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