16/02/2005 – WWF urges
Royal Dutch Shell to abide by the recommendations
of an independent panel of renowned whale
experts, which has warned that oil and gas
activities in Russia’s Far East may drive
the critically endangered western gray whale
into extinction.
The panel, set up by the World Conservation
Union (IUCN), concluded that existing and
planned large-scale offshore oil and gas development
off the northeast coast of Sakhalin Island
poses “potentially catastrophic threats” to
this critically endangered whale population.
Shell, along with Japan’s Mitsui and Mitsubishi,
plans to build a pipeline through the sole
feeding grounds of the gray whale, of which
there are fewer than 100 remaining. The panel
warns that the death of just one each year,
out of the 23 reproductive females left, would
be enough to drive the population to extinction.
WWF backs the panel’s scientific finding
that the construction of a pipeline would
cause noise and disturbance to the whales,
physical damage to their feeding grounds,
and expose them to greater risk of ship strikes.
Furthermore, the whales would face a greater
threat from oil spills and gas releases once
the pipeline is built.
“If Shell routes this pipeline right through
the heart of the whales’ feeding grounds,
it is potentially condemning them to extinction,”
said Paul Steele, WWF’s Chief Operating Officer.
“Shell runs a serious risk of running its
reputation aground if it ignores the recommendations
of the world’s whale experts.”
The panel criticized the Shell-led consortium’s
proposed safeguards as inadequate, unspecific
and highly “questionable,” and recommended
the company “suspend operations" in the
area.
The area around Sakhalin is home to a wealth
of rare and endangered species such as Steller
sea lions, sea eagles, seals, and vast colonies
of seabirds. WWF believes that it is absolutely
critical to the survival of the whales.
WWF, along with more than 50 other NGOs,
is also urging a bank consortium led by the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD) to withhold funds from the oil and
gas development. The EBRD stated last year
that an environmental impact assessment carried
out was inadequate.
WWF is not against pipelines, per se, but
this project not only risks condemning to
extinction the world's last remaining gray
whale population, but also brings too little
economic benefit to local people and raises
serious concerns for the ecology of the region.
“Investors should think carefully about backing
a project that puts shareholder value above
the survival of an endangered species,"
said Igor Chestin, Director of WWF-Russia.
“Future generations will judge them on the
fate of the gray whale."
NOTES:
• The coalition of NGO's lobbying for change
in the project includes: WWF, Sakhalin Enviromment
Watch, IFAW, Greenpeace, Pacific Environmental
Resource Centre, Bankwatch, Friends of the
Earth, Wild Salmon Centre, and others.
• The bank consortium, which is considering
giving Sakhalin Energy a loan to continue
the project inclues the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development, United States
Export Import Bank, and Japanese Bank for
International Cooperation and ECGB.
• Of the original three gray whale populations,
one is already extinct in the North Atlantic
Ocean, on ehas recovered in the Eastern North
Pacific Ocean, while the western gray whale
is on the IUCN red list as critically endangered.
