Charles Emmerson & Glada Lahn - Arctic Oil Rush Will Ruin Ecosystem, Warns Lloyd's Of London
April 16, 2012 "Lloyd's of London, the world's biggest insurance market, has become the first major business organisation to raise its voice about huge potential environmental damage from oil drilling in the Arctic.
The City institution estimates that $100bn (£63bn) of new investment is heading for the far north over the next decade, but believes cleaning up any oil spill in the Arctic, particularly in ice-covered areas, would present "multiple obstacles, which together constitute a unique and hard-to-manage risk".
Richard Ward, Lloyd's chief executive, urged companies not to "rush in [but instead to] step back and think carefully about the consequences of that action" before research was carried out and the right safety measures put in place..."
Report excerpts from the Chatham House website
From the Foreward (by Richard Ward, CEO of Lloyd's)
Those monitoring the effects of climate change agree that the pace of environmental transformation currently taking place in the Arctic is unprecedented. As this report shows, such changes provide opportunities for business in areas as diverse as energy extraction, shipping and tourism. But these opportunities will only be fully realised if the businesses involved are able to manage the substantial, and unique, risks which exist in the region. There will be winners and losers as the impacts of climate change continue to shape the Arctic future.
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