Canadian Arctic Resources Committee - Programmes


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		Issues - Toxics And POPs CARC Toxics Programme Vision: CARC’s toxics work is directed toward securing effective global treaties and regional control measures to reduce or eliminate the worldwide production of pollutants that accumulate in the Canadian Arctic. Background: For those of us in the “southern” parts of the globe, the Arctic may truly seem one of last great frontiers, an area so vast and so remote that the potential for environmental damage seems largely an abstract one. But distance masks the very real and frighteningly immediate environmental effects that are being felt in the North. The damage is insidious, and invisible —it arrives by air and water and in the tissues of animals hunted for food. It originates thousands of miles away, in the industries of economies in which Northern communities play no role and from which they reap no benefit. Toxics deposition in the circumpolar Arctic is one of the most pressing environmental threats today, as the rate of deposition, and bioaccumulation and bio-magnification1 in local food animals such as seals has risen to alarming heights. Because many in the North, particularly First Nations, still depend for a large part on “country food”- the fish, birds and mammals that inhabit their surroundings- the impact of increasing pollution levels poses a grave public health risk. At the same time, there is uncertainty as to what information on these risks is serious enough to warrant conveyance to Northern peoples. There is still greater uncertainty as to how risk should be conveyed appropriately, given the alternate risks, from heart disease to diabetes, that would come with a switch from natural wild foods to a “western” diet. While events such as the signing of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) represent a positive step in combating these globally significant issues, the task of funding and implementing the convention has just begun. Actual control of most critical emissions of POPs is still years away. Control of heavy metals and other substances of concern is equally urgent, but can be expected to take years longer. At the same time, there is increasing pressure from the United States to prevent any new treaties2, and to narrow the scope of other existing and proposed measures, in response to powerful industrial lobbies. So long as effective global control measures remain to be implemented, Arctic peoples throughout the circumpolar world remain at risk—a risk that continues to increase with the rapid growth of economies fuelled by coal and other ‘dirty’ fuels. CARC has a depth of experience to draw on, in dealing with POPs and mercury. We were the only Canadian NGO to make a submission to the United Nations Environment Program mercury assessment, and worked as a member of the Global Mercury Assessment Working Group. At their meeting in Geneva in September of 2002, we were able to secure and improve references in the assessment, inserted as a result of our earlier submissions, focusing attention on the inequitable impact of mercury in Northern communities. We also ensured that references to the problems created by elemental mercury were not deleted, despite enormous pressure from the American delegation to remove them. Elemental mercury, once it methylates (that is, converts to a methyl compound) in the Arctic environment or in marine life, is acutely toxic to humans. Given the potential for atmospheric transportation and deposition of elemental mercury in the Arctic, the elimination of the references to its dangers may well have resulted in a failure of an eventual treaty to address reducing sources of these emissions. We feel we are very well placed to contribute meaningfully to the large amount of work that remains to be done to secure the progress that has been made globally. Current Articles: Top = Most Recent Minister Nault says he's restoring the Northern Contaminants Programme CARC at AMAP - New Information on Arctic Threats