10 July 2014: The third meeting of the Arctic Council’s Task Force on Arctic Marine Oil Pollution Prevention (TFOPP) continued developing an ‘Arctic Council Action Plan for Oil Pollution Prevention’ and related cooperative arrangements. The TFOPP, which convened in Ottawa, Canada, on 12-13 June, was co-chaired by the Russian Federation and Norway, and is expected to present the outcomes of its work and any recommendations for further action at the Arctic Council Ministerial meeting in 2015.

In developing the Action Plan, the TFOPP is identifying priority measures and articulating practical issues that may be associated with those measures. The Task Force focuses on potential safety measures to prevent oil pollution from maritime and petroleum activities, and one goal for the Action Plan is to help Arctic states enhance work in these fields by sharing knowledge and experiences.

All eight Arctic states (Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden and the US) attended the meeting, as did two Permanent Participant organizations (the Aleut International Association and the Inuit Circumpolar Council), and representatives from relevant Arctic Council working groups. Also present were observers from Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Singapore and the UK, as well as from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Circumpolar Conservation Union. In addition, outside experts from the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP) and the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) participated.

The next meeting of the Task Force will take place from 10-11 September in Nuuk, Greenland. [Arctic Council TFOPP Press Release] [Arctic Council Backgrounder][TFOPP Website]