Close X
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
ADVT 
National

Global poll indicates support for stronger Arctic conservation: Greenpeace

Bob Weber, Canadian Press, 04 Sep, 2014 10:57 AM
    A poll commissioned by Greenpeace suggests that a clear majority of people in 30 countries want to see stronger efforts made to preserve the Arctic environment from industrial development.
     
    The four-question poll of more than 30,000 people found some of the strongest support for conservation comes from Canada.
     
    "(Canadians) definitely have higher numbers in each category when compared to the global average," Farrah Khan, Greenpeace's Arctic campaigner, said Wednesday. "Canada's pretty high on the list."
     
    The international environmental organization hired a Toronto-based polling firm, which conducted the online survey between Aug. 8 and Aug. 28. The firm, RIWI Corp., used technology that intercepts Internet users who make mistakes entering an online address to generate random samples, which were then adjusted to account for each country's demographic character.
     
    RIWI Corp. did not supply a margin of error with the poll. Industry associations limit statements about margins of sampling error for most online surveys.
     
    Pollsters asked four questions.
     
    They found that 71 per cent of respondents agreed that the Arctic Ocean should be free from oil drilling and other heavy industries. Canada's result was 75 per cent.
     
    A total of 74 per cent either agreed or strongly agreed that a wildlife sanctuary should be created around the North Pole. Seventy-eight per cent of Canadians fell into those categories.
     
    A global average of 64 per cent wanted oil drilling and transport as well as industrial-scale fishing kept out of international waters around the North Pole, with 70 per cent of Canadians agreeing.
     
    Energy companies found some support — 51 per cent of respondents said industry is capable of cleaning up a major spill in the Arctic, although that figure dropped to 47 per cent in Canada.
     
    Khan acknowledges that Greenpeace's pitch for a protected area around the North Pole is fighting headwinds. All eight circumpolar countries have rejected the idea and three of them — including Canada — plan to file a claim with the United Nations for economic control of the seafloor at the top of the planet.
     
    Governments around the North are encouraging industrial development and are at least considering offshore oil drilling. This week in Iqaluit, Canada was host to the inaugural meeting of a business panel to discuss ways of increasing economic activity in the Arctic.
     
    Russia has included representatives from its national oil company among its nominees for the Arctic Economic Council. Rosneft is one of the North's worst environmental actors, said Khan.
     
    "You can't really talk about sustainability and Rosneft in the same sentence," she said.
     
    Still, she said, the poll results suggest governments pushing Arctic industrial development are out of step.
     
    "The will of the people in Canada and in many parts of the world is that we shouldn't be drilling," said Khan. "There's definitely a disconnect between what's happening in Canada's Arctic and what people here really want to happen."
     
    Greenpeace, which has recently made some Inuit friends in the North for its opposition to seismic testing in Davis Strait, isn't opposed to all Arctic development.
     
    "We don't think that extractive industries are the only solution for developing the North," Khan said. "Instead of investing in projects that are going to be destructive of the environment and of many traditional practices in the North, we want to know why our government isn't exploring alternatives."

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Less work, more play: Quebec elementary school bans homework for the year

    Less work, more play: Quebec elementary school bans homework for the year
    MONTREAL - Students at a Quebec elementary school may be some of the happiest in the country as they prepare for another year in the classroom.

    Less work, more play: Quebec elementary school bans homework for the year

    Montreal bar owner, students make amends following homophobia charge

    Montreal bar owner, students make amends following homophobia charge
    MONTREAL - A Quebec student association which had accused a popular Montreal bar of homophobia says it's satisfied with the response from the owner.

    Montreal bar owner, students make amends following homophobia charge

    Copper no longer only reason for green roofs around Parliament Hill

    Copper no longer only reason for green roofs around Parliament Hill
    OTTAWA - Oxidized copper is no longer the only cause of green rooftops around Parliament Hill.

    Copper no longer only reason for green roofs around Parliament Hill

    Harper airborne en route to London and Wales for NATO summit meeting

    Harper airborne en route to London and Wales for NATO summit meeting
    OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is airborne on his way to a NATO summit in Wales.

    Harper airborne en route to London and Wales for NATO summit meeting

    Widower, 60, goes back to university to study the cancer that killed his wife

    Widower, 60, goes back to university to study the cancer that killed his wife
    EDMONTON - Powel Crosley was lost after his wife died of a rare form of ovarian cancer.

    Widower, 60, goes back to university to study the cancer that killed his wife

    Applications up, approvals slow for Health Canada medical marijuana licences

    Applications up, approvals slow for Health Canada medical marijuana licences
    OTTAWA - The number of Canadian firms applying for lucrative medical marijuana licences has topped 1,000, as a so-called "greenrush" continues to overwhelm Health Canada.

    Applications up, approvals slow for Health Canada medical marijuana licences