This painting, titled The Wave, is by Stephen Tromans, eminent environmental lawyer and artist, whose paintings appear in The Law of Net Zero and Nature Positive which I reviewed here.
Stephen gave me The Wave “to mark my contribution to the development of good environmental law”. What an honour. I am grateful and delighted to have it. It has been on my kitchen wall exuding a maritime aura for a week and still each time I catch sight of it I imagine I smell ozone and hear gulls crying.
Stephen described the painting as “a reminder of the eternal power of the sea which we ignore at our peril”. But this week we were reminded that the sea and its inhabitants face more peril from us than we do from them. Monday brought the dreadful news that an oil tanker and a cargo ship had collided in the North Sea close to Hull. One person is missing, presumed dead. But details about the further impacts of this disaster have been slow to emerge.
The tanker was carrying 220,000 barrels of aviation fuel, in 18 different containers; we don’t know how many of these have spilled or burned. It now seems that the cargo ship wasn’t carrying deadly sodium cyanide as was reported at first, but I’ve yet to read any report of what it was carrying, or whether that was spilled. Both ships would have been fuelled by heavy marine diesel, which may have spilled too. Until all these details are established the extent of the pollution can’t be assessed and the clean-up operation can’t be planned.
The disaster happened close to two marine protected areas, one designated because of its harbour porpoises and one for the importance of the seabed habitat.
More than two spills a day
This grisly event shows how dangerous and ecocidal the fossil fuel industry is. It’s not even a rare occurrence. Only last month campaign group Oceana released a report and a map which showed that the seas round the UK suffered more than two oil or chemical spills a day in 2024 – including in protected areas – though the poor level of reporting of such spills means that the situation is likely to be even worse than the report suggests. This pollution has been shown to have a wide range of impacts on sealife, from lung disease in dolphins to cancers in seabirds and deformation and breeding disruption in fish.
Oceana is fighting hard to get the sea the protection it deserves. On 26 and 27 March they will be in court to challenge the last government’s awarding of new oil and gas exploration licences in protected areas. They will argue that 31 licences were unlawfully granted in May 2024, ignoring advice from expert bodies warning of the severe threat to marine life from accidental oil spills.
Meanwhile we all have the opportunity to shape future policy as the government is rethinking its approach to the North Sea. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has just opened a consultation and call for evidence on ‘Building the North Sea’s Energy Future’, and they want to hear from environmental groups, individuals, local communities, unions and others.
The government has already said they won’t issue new licences for oil and gas exploration and production. We need to make sure they stick to this, and also don’t issue any more consents or permissions for fields that have already been licensed, in the North Sea or onshore. And that the transition to a clean energy future is fair and well managed. I hope everyone interested in this vital topic will take part in the consultation. It closes on 30 April.
Clean Rivers Clean Seas
Meanwhile on a local scale, I’m looking forward to taking part in ‘Clean Rivers Clean Seas’ tomorrow. It’s an assembly of communities, politicians, scientists, businesses, farmers and more all motivated by protecting and restoring our local water bodies. It’s organised by the Avon River Champions, an impressive community group in South Devon.
The government has set a legally-binding target under the Water Framework Directive for 77% of surface water bodies to achieve good ecological condition by 2027. It seems almost certain to miss it. Right now only 21% of the rivers in Devon have ‘good’ ecological status. The reasons vary but the primary sources of pollution here are agricultural run-off and inadequate South West Water treatment works.
Reading through the papers for tomorrow’s assembly, I get the impression that the Avon River Champions have little faith in the Environment Agency and South West Water. They are promoting a collaborative catchment-based approach using nature-based solutions and volunteer labour. And they seem confident that this approach actually could get us up to 77% of Devon’s rivers in good condition – with a huge effort. I look forward to learning more and bring ideas back to the Exe.