Love the Planet. Protect the Arctic.

SIGN THE PETITION FOR MAPS: THE MARINE ARCTIC PEACE SANCTUARY

Call to ACTION by PAVARTI ORG

Seismic blasting, the method of choice for oil companies to look for oil and gas reserves buried deep in the ocean floor, poses serious risks to any marine environment, especially one as vulnerable as the Arctic Ocean. It is a violent and traumatic event for whales and other marine animals, subjecting them to incredibly loud sounds, every ten seconds, 24 hours a day, for months on end. Seismic blasting also threatens the way of life for coastal communities who for centuries have relied on subsistence hunting. 

Oil reserves under the Arctic Ocean seabed are unburnable under any scenario that limits global warming to “well below 2o C” as stipulated in the Paris Agreement. If Arctic oil is exploited, tons of carbon stand to be released into the global atmosphere, further accelerating the climatic warming that is already so disastrous for the planet.

The all-volunteer staff of Parvati.org is unanimous that the vulnerable, climate-regulating Arctic ecosystem must be protected immediately from all exploitation. Parvati.org is working to establish the entire ocean north of the Arctic Circle as the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS), a permanent international marine protected area.

The Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary establishes all ocean waters north of the Arctic Circle as a marine protected area free from natural resource exploitation, commercialization and military activity.

MAPS not only:

• Protects the fragile Arctic ecosystem, which is key to keeping our planet cool and helping prevent natural disasters such as forest fires, floods and droughts
• Shelters our oceans and ocean life, which absorb a quarter of the world’s carbon and are essential for the future of humanity
• Safeguards the polar ice caps, which put the brakes on global warming through the albedo effect, by stopping through traffic

MAPS also:

• Declares our global commitment to sustainable energies and our cessation of the use of fossil fuels by saying “no” to the unburnable oil resources in the Arctic
• Unites world leaders in agreement that the needs of the collective are equal to the needs of the individual, no longer putting short-term gain ahead of long-term consequence.

MAPS will prevent all drilling, fracking, seismic testing, commercial shipping and military activity in this delicate region. Parvati.org created the international Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS) Treaty, translated it into the six official UN languages, sent it to all 193 UN member states, and took it to COP 21 and 22.