Thursday, January 1, 2026
ADVT 
National

Arctic heavy fuel ban weak: environmentalists

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 20 Nov, 2020 07:52 PM
  • Arctic heavy fuel ban weak: environmentalists

Environmental groups say a new international ban on using a highly polluting fuel in Arctic waters is full of gaps.

They say Canada should refuse to take advantage of loopholes the International Maritime Organization has agreed to make part of the ban on heavy fuel oils.

The loopholes allow countries with Arctic coastlines continue to use the fuel until 2029.

Heavy fuel oil is a major source of so-called black carbon — soot particles that land on and darken sea ice, hastening its melt.

Andrew Dumbrille of the World Wildlife Fund says eliminating heavy fuel oil could cut black carbon almost in half.

Most Arctic countries, Indigenous groups and environmentalists supported a stronger ban.

Dumbrille says the loopholes were granted after heavy pressure from Russia, where most Arctic shipping occurs.

Transport Canada was not immediately available to say how it would implement the new regulations.

MORE National ARTICLES

Top court nixes video lottery terminal case

Top court nixes video lottery terminal case
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that a class-action lawsuit taking aim at video lottery terminals cannot proceed, saying Friday the claims made in the case are bound to fail.

Top court nixes video lottery terminal case

Helicopter removed from crash site in N.L.

Helicopter removed from crash site in N.L.
Members of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada have completed their work at the scene of a fatal helicopter crash in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Helicopter removed from crash site in N.L.

Mother charged in six-year-old's stabbing death

Mother charged in six-year-old's stabbing death
The mother of a six-year-old girl who died after she was stabbed in an east-end Montreal residence was charged Friday with second-degree murder.

Mother charged in six-year-old's stabbing death

Trudeau should quit over WE deal: Scheer

Trudeau should quit over WE deal: Scheer
Outgoing Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should resign over his role in the controversy involving the WE organization.

Trudeau should quit over WE deal: Scheer

Ottawa urged to hurry domestic vaccine funds

Ottawa urged to hurry domestic vaccine funds
The Trudeau government is being pressed to approve funding for a made-in-Canada COVID-19 vaccine to lessen the risk Canadians will have to line up and wait on a foreign-made pandemic cure.

Ottawa urged to hurry domestic vaccine funds

Violent crime on the rise: Winnipeg police chief

Violent crime on the rise: Winnipeg police chief
Winnipeg's police chief says there was an alarming increase in the level of brazen crime in the city last year, with the number homicides double the average.

Violent crime on the rise: Winnipeg police chief