Dawson, Grant

Nelissen, F.A.

English

ARTS repository - University of Groningen

   University of GroningenEnvironmental remediation of sea-dumped chemical weaponsDawson, Grant; Nelissen, F.A.IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite fromit. Please check the document version below.Document VersionOther versionPublication date:2023Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research databaseCitation for published version (APA):Dawson, G., & Nelissen, F. A. (2023, Aug 21). Environmental remediation of sea-dumped chemicalweapons: courageously fixing the mistakes of our past. Oxford University Press.https://blog.oup.com/2023/08/environmental-remediation-of-sea-dumped-chemical-weapons-courageously-fixing-the-mistakes-of-our-past/CopyrightOther than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of theauthor(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons).The publication may also be distributed here under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the “Taverne” license.More information can be found on the University of Groningen website: https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/self-archiving-pure/taverne-amendment.Take-down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediatelyand investigate your claim.Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons thenumber of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum.Download date: 31-10-20231  Environmental Remedia�on of Sea-Dumped Chemical Weapons: Fixing the Mistakes of Our Past By Grant Dawson and Frans Nelissen For many genera�ons to come, there is only one place where we can live, and that one place is the Earth. It is therefore impera�ve that we take care of our home, rather than trea�ng the Earth as if it were given to us for our own selfish exploita�on. The impending collapse of some ecosystems is mo�va�ng more and more of us to take ac�on in the present to avoid suffering in the future—all the more since much of this suffering will be experienced most intensely by communi�es that wield rela�vely less poli�cal and economic power. But few will be fully spared.  It has become axioma�c that the health of the Ocean is essen�al for the survival of not only marine life itself, but also for the whole Earth. The land and the sea are one. In the ignorance—or naiveté—of the nineteenth and twen�eth centuries CE, some thought—and daresay s�ll do think—that the Ocean’s immensity was such that we humans could not harm and exhaust it, the so-called ‘infinity of the oceans’.  A myriad of scien�fic studies has revealed that the Ocean has been seriously impacted by land-based pollu�on, global warming, overfishing, emissions from vessels, oil spills, and the dumping of industrial waste, radioac�ve waste, and muni�ons, including chemical weapons. The nature of this environmental harm is inherently transboundary in nature: although we have created legal delimita�ons in the Ocean and seas, all things in nature are connected. The marine environment knows no geo-poli�cal borders, and we will all have to deal with the degrada�on of the Earth’s ecosystems in the coming decades and centuries. It is �me for a radically different approach to the Ocean and the living creatures that inhabit it. Instead of a resource to be exploited, we need to regard the Ocean as integral to our survival on Earth—the one place in the Universe where we can live, at least for the foreseeable future. This reconceptualiza�on of our rela�onship with the Ocean may bring the need to include new legal arrangements to protect it; however, so far, the adop�on of legal promises to preserve and protect the Ocean has not led to adequate protec�on and ac�on on the part of public and private stakeholders. The London Dumping Conven�on, the United Na�ons Conven�on on the Law of the Sea, the Regional Seas Conven�ons, and customary interna�onal law (specifically the principles of preven�on, precau�on, and coopera�on) entail mandatory legal obliga�ons for the protec�on of the Ocean. These binding legal instruments and principles of law require the cleanup of sea-dumped chemical weapons, not only in areas that are under the sovereignty of states, but in all areas of the Ocean. In addi�on to their territorial seas and exclusive economic zones, states must avoid a ‘tragedy of the commons’ where all have access and can make use of the high seas, but no one is ac�ng as the caretaker of those areas to preserve them for future genera�ons. 2  The chemical weapons that were dumped into our Ocean and seas a�er the world wars of the twen�eth century CE have been languishing there, in some cases, for over 100 years with litle to no ac�on to environmentally clean them up. Chemical weapons have been dumped in all the areas of the Ocean (except the Antarc�c) and also in many seas. Es�mates range from one to one-point-six million tonnes. Many of them are in shallow waters and regularly wash up on shore or are caught in fishing nets. People are injured every year in accidents involving sea-dumped chemical weapons. Many of the chemical weapons have already contaminated the marine environment. In �me, the remaining muni�on casings will erode, and their toxic contents will be released into the marine ecosystem. It is not yet fully known how devasta�ng the effect will be, but scien�sts have already observed the contamina�on of the flora and fauna surrounding chemical weapon dump sites. Sea-dumped chemical weapons are therefore yet another environmental pressure on an already troubled marine environment. The �me for ac�on is long overdue. The problem is a finite one with finite solu�ons. A worldwide intergovernmental solu�on might not be realis�c, as stakeholders historically have even tried to legally exempt themselves (via interna�onal treaty) from being legally obligated to clean up sea-dumped chemical weapons and so far have been unwilling to devote the resources necessary to the remedia�on of the muni�ons we know about—not to men�on the ones that are yet to be located. Rather, an incremental and itera�ve process might be more feasible and achievable.  Efforts to clean up sea-dumped chemical weapons could also be seen as a poli�cal, financial, and technological challenge. One place to start would be to require off-shore projects to adopt a holis�c approach to cleaning the seabed for future projects, rather than avoidance or underwater reloca�on of the muni�ons, which can be considered re-dumping. Public en��es need to provide subsidies to off-shore ventures to clean up muni�ons in order to provide economic incen�ves (necessary in our market economy) for the remedia�on of the muni�ons, either in situ or on land. Such subsidies could, for example, take the form of a ‘bounty’ paid for each remediated muni�on or site.  An interna�onal organisa�on could serve as a coordina�ng agency for efforts in this area, such as a centralised database for the loca�on and status of the muni�ons, a clearing house for best remedia�on prac�ces, and the administra�on of a modest, voluntary trust fund to finance further research and opera�ons. A pilot project could be undertaken in the next years to fully remediate a site in the Bal�c Sea—an area of par�cular concern due to the large number of dump sites, the low depth of the water, and the increased economic ac�vity there. Lessons would be learned from such a project and then applied to future cleanup projects.  These efforts would be undertaken as voluntary coopera�on and would be consistent with the legal obliga�ons undertaken by states to preserve and protect the Ocean. In this manner, the taboo that has long been associated with sea-dumped chemical weapons can be li�ed, and we can get on with the work of altering the mistakes of our past, so that we can restore the balance of our planet’s Ocean, upon which we all depend for survival. 3  This ar�cle was originally published on the OUPblog at: htps://blog.oup.com/2023/08/environmental-remedia�on-of-sea-dumped-chemical-weapons-courageously-fixing-the-mistakes-of-our-past/   

Environmental remediation of sea-dumped chemical weapons:courageously fixing the mistakes of our past

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Environmental remediation of sea-dumped chemical weapons:courageously fixing the mistakes of our past

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