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WWF urges suspension of Arctic oil drilling

© Сollage by RIA NovostiWWF urges suspension of Arctic oil drilling
WWF urges suspension of Arctic oil drilling - Sputnik International
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The World Wildlife Fund has called on Arctic states to suspend oil drilling in the region until the risk of accidents can be eliminated.

The World Wildlife Fund has called on Arctic states to suspend oil drilling in the region until the risk of accidents can be eliminated.

The Arctic Council is gathering in Russia's Vorkuta on Wednesday to discuss measures to prevent or contain oil drilling accidents in the wake of the catastrophic BP oil spill Gulf of Mexico in April.

"It is time for the Arctic states to recognize that offshore oil drilling with the current technology and response capacities poses unacceptable risks," Alexei Knizhnikov, Oil & Gas Environmental Policy Officer for WWF-Russia, said.

"Norway and the United States have already taken the first step, by putting off any further Arctic offshore drilling until an investigation into the Gulf disaster is over," he said.

In 2010, the first exploratory drilling is scheduled to take place off the west coast of Greenland. Norway plans to open up further territory for oil exploration. In Russia, exploratory drilling is scheduled in the Kara Sea and the Ob river estuary near the Yamal Peninsula.

WWF Australia's Greg Bourne, an ex-BP manager, said despite having best drilling technology, BP has still been unable to deal with the unprecedented environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

"To even conceive of being able to control a similar event in the Arctic would be a triumph of hope over experience and reason. The consequences of such an event in the cold climate would lead to a persistence of ecological damage over many decades," Bourne said.

Russian non-governmental environmental organizations and Arctic indigenous peoples issued a statement on June 4 urging a moratorium on new oil drilling projects on the Russian sea shelves until measures are taken to ensure security.

MOSCOW, June 16 (RIA Novosti) 

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