Arctic update – checking in from the NIRB hearings

On the last day in Iqaluit there was an opportunity for WWF to provide a comment, and below is my reconstruction of what I said (the official transcript will eventually be posted by NIRB):

The NIRB hearing in Iqaluit. (C) Martin von Mirbach

“Qujannamik, thank you Madame Chair.  My name is Martin von Mirbach, and I’m the Director of the World Wildlife Fund’s Canadian Arctic program.  I appreciate having the opportunity to listen, to learn, and to briefly share WWF’s perspective regarding this important project.
First of all, as a conservation organization WWF recognizes the importance of Inuit traditional activities, including the sustainable harvest of marine mammals.  We are not an anti-hunting organization.  Indeed, our conservation efforts are aimed at preserving these opportunities, now and into the future.
We also recognize the need for development in Nunavut.  This project, if well planned and implemented, could set a benchmark for sustainable Arctic development, and provide significant benefits to Nunavummiut.
Any project of this size will inevitably have significant impacts.  We’ve reviewed the written submissions and listened to the comments from intervenors and community representatives, and believe that the key issues and concerns have already been raised.  However, let me briefly outline a few characteristics of the context for this project that make it particularly important and challenging.
First, the relatively low level of current industrial activity will make the project’s impacts stand out particularly sharply.
Second, the lack of adequate baseline studies has been raised frequently, and is starting to be addressed, but remains a challenge.
Third, there are a number of particularly sensitive areas in the region.  The proposed Lancaster Sound Marine Conservation Area in Eclipse Sound is in the path of the summer shipping route into Milne Inlet.  As well, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has identified the entire Hudson Strait as an Ecologically and Biologically Significant Area.

Kayaking in in Eclipse Sound. (C) Martin von Mirbach

Fourth, as noted by the community participants in Hall Beach, climate change is transforming the Arctic, and will continue to do so throughout the life of the project.  This raises significant challenges – for project planning, monitoring, impact assessment and risk management.  As well, there’s a need for broad-scale planning to conserve the resilience of ecosystems and communities in a rapidly changing climate.
Lastly is the likelihood that the project will be followed by others.  That presents both an opportunity for this project to set an appropriate benchmark for the proposals to follow, and also a challenge, since there’s a pressing need to consider the cumulative regional impacts of multiple projects.
These challenges are large, and some are beyond the scope of NIRB to address in this current review.  They will require the collective efforts of everybody.  WWF has a role to play and we’re prepared to do our part, within our mandate and modest means.
We’re contributing to the baseline studies that are needed, and this summer we’re supporting the Mittimatalik HTO in Pond Inlet so that its members can participate in DFO’s narwhal tagging project in Eclipse Sound.  We’re carrying out a study of future shipping scenarios across the Canadian Arctic, which will inform consideration of the cumulative impacts of development in Nunavut.  And we’ve commissioned an independent study into best practices in Arctic shipping, including international and national regulations and guidelines as well as corporate voluntary commitments and best practices.
Madame Chair, I’d like to thank you, as well as the NIRB, the proponent, the intervenors and the community representatives for giving WWF the opportunity to share our perspectives.  Thank you, Qujannamik.”
The week of meetings in Iqaluit is being followed by a week in Igloolik and then Pond Inlet, the two communities closest to the proposed project.