world news
OpEd: Why The Arctic Ocean Must Be Quarantined
#PARVATIFOUNDATION – Our world has come to an unprecedented pause in an attempt to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Doctors call it a “novel” coronavirus, which means that it is new to our population and none of us has immunity to it. The cost in human lives and the widespread havoc it wreaks is consuming our news cycle. But what many of us don’t realize is that our world has a ticking time bomb of pathogens, all of which would be “novel” to us, if released. For the sake of our collective future, we must keep them under ice.
The Arctic Ocean does not only keep our planet cool through the albedo effect, when its white ice reflects the sun’s heat away from the planet. It keeps the local permafrost, with its payload of pathogens, frozen. Within the ice and permafrost of the Arctic region are bacteria and viruses that have been kept dormant for millennia. But the ice is melting. Sections of the Arctic Ocean are now 4C too hot. Up to 95% of the summer ice is gone. And scientists have proven that frozen Arctic viruses as old as 30,000 years can be reactivated.
The warning shot was fired in 2016, when an anthrax outbreak was traced to the frozen carcass of a reindeer that died over 75 years ago and thawed in the summer heat. It tore through a herd of 2000 reindeer, took the life of a 12-year-old-boy, and required the hospitalization of dozens of others. If this trend continues, infections from time immemorial could re-emerge to devastate a world no longer immune.
MAPS, the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary, is a medical mask that keeps everyone around the globe safe from these frozen pathogens. However, today, the Arctic Ocean is under unprecedented threat from melting and from exploitation that breaks up the ice and inhibits its regrowth: shipping, commercial fishing, oil exploration, and military activity. To protect our global immunity, we must put the Arctic Ocean in quarantine now. We are seeing today the deadly consequences of delay in clamping down to prevent disease.
MAPS declares the entire Arctic Ocean north of the Arctic Circle an international peace park free from all forms of exploitation. Not only does it protect our planet’s air conditioner. Not only does it create a secure habitat for vulnerable species in a time that scientists say we must protect half the planet in order to prevent mass extinction. Not only does it safeguard 17 kinds of whales, who play an essential role in the ocean providing us half the oxygen we breathe. MAPS is urgently needed if we want to keep pandemics from becoming the new normal.
Captain Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd says, “The Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary must continue to hold the massive reserves of restless methane within its quiet lonely bosom where sleeping viruses remain safely captive. From the dark boreal forests to the groaning of the shifting floes, there is the constant whispering reminder that this stark and desolate world is the key to our survival.”
The all-volunteer international charity Parvati Foundation originated MAPS and is in dialogue with all nation leaders to sign the MAPS Treaty immediately. This Treaty updates the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to ensure the Arctic Ocean is given the protection our whole world needs now more than ever. Two nations have already signed.
Parvati Foundation’s founder and CEO, the award-winning Canadian musician and author Parvati, says, “COVID-19 is an urgent reminder of the ways we are all interconnected. What each of us does affects everyone else. We must heed the wake-up call to protect our collective future with MAPS now.”
Caribbean News
UN Secretary-General appoints Carlos G. Ruiz Massieu of Mexico as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti and Head of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti
Caribbean News
Barbados Investment & Development Corporation (BIDC) signs MoU to collaborate on the development of sustainable ocean renewable energy with Global OTEC
10th June 2025, Nice, France — The UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) held this month in Nice, France, was the stage for an important advancement for marine renewable energy in Barbados. In the margins of the event, the Barbados Investment & Development Corporation (BIDC), through its Bloom Clean Technology and Climate Tech Center of Excellence, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Global OTEC, a climate technology company specialised in Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC). This partnership supports the industrial development targets with regards to sustainable clean energy production for energy security at the Corporation’s Industrial Estates and “energy” as an export commodity.
The landmark collaboration reaffirms BIDC’s commitment to innovative around clean technology solutions from the Blue Economy of Barbados. Barbados has set ambitious goals to achieve diversification of its energy mix and a reduction on the reliance on heavy fuels imported into the island for energy production. Through collaborations such as this, it is without doubt that the island’s target of becoming a carbon neutral state by 2030 will become a reality and OTEC can play a vital role in this plan not only in Barbados but also neighbouring Caribbean territories.
Through the MoU, both parties will collaborate on technical assessments, stakeholder engagement, and the evaluation of suitable locations for the technology implementation. OTEC can change the island’s industrial development and clean technology landscape, bringing sustainable climate smart baseload power 24/7 to Small Island Developing States (SIDS), being a viable solution to the current diesel generators that provide electricity to over 282,000 Barbadians. Using the temperature difference between warm surface water and cold deep water to provide continuous electricity, OTEC is well suited for the country given the shelf on its eastern coast.
“Small Island Developing States need to innovate in their industrial development thinking and their approach with regards to their energy
security and sovereignty, manufacturing and processing, technical capacity development, scientific knowledge acquisition and technology transfer for future focused careers and sustainable economic growth. The volatility of global energy markets due to geo-political conflict and logistical challenges leave the economies of SIDS vulnerable, equally when we consider climate change, it’s clear that the business as usual will no longer be adequate for industrial and sustainable development in the global South, especially in the context of the blue economy. Greening our industrial estates through innovative technology will remain a key strategic objective at the Corporation, especially if the technology under consideration can positively impact of manufacturing and commodity export portfolio”, states BIDC Chief Executive Officer Mr. Mark Hill.
The MoU follows a growing interest in ocean-based climate solutions among SIDS, which face increasing pressure to enhance energy security and reduce carbon emissions. Global OTEC’s modular approach to the technology is designed to integrate with island grids, offering a sustainable alternative to diesel generation and can provide energy redundancy to the grid after severe weather impacts from tropical storms. BIDC’s green hydrogen targets can also be assisted by Global OTEC’s technological solution.
Global OTEC is also leading the EU-funded project PLOTEC, which built and will test a floating storm-resistant structure for OTEC in weather-prone regions, such as the Caribbean. The advancements in design and materials will make ocean energy more resilient to tropical storms and severe climate conditions, leaving countries like Barbados less vulnerable to electricity outages, particularly when needed the most.
Barbados has previously expressed interest in OTEC, as last year Global OTEC presented its projects in a roundtable at the Export Barbados (BIDC) headquarters. “Barbados continues to lead by example in the global blue economy. This MoU builds on our longstanding engagement with the country and signals our commitment to making Barbados the launchpad for a Caribbean cluster of ocean thermal projects. We can unlock clean, reliable power from the ocean, and Barbados is showing the region how it can be a lighthouse for the region”, emphasises Global OTEC Founder and CEO Dan Grech.
OTEC: a great fit for the Caribbean
The Caribbean is facing an energy crisis, commonly referred to as a “fuel trap”. To escape this trap, the region needs renewable energy technologies that take into account its unique characteristics, such as limited land space and vulnerability to tropical storms. In addition, there is an urgent need to reduce electricity prices, which are currently around USD 0.25 per kWh on average, more than double the average price in the United States. In some Caribbean countries, the prices can go up to over USD 0.40 per kWh.
As these countries rely heavily on fossil fuels, with more than 90% of their electricity supply coming from this source, the consequent high and fluctuating costs affect competitiveness, and productivity and perpetuate poverty. OTEC can help the Caribbean overcome its energy challenges, harnessing the power of the ocean, the islands’ main natural resource, to deliver clean and reliable power while reducing diesel costs by up to 50%.
About Global OTEC
Global OTEC is a UK-based company set up to accelerate the commercialization of a floating OTEC technology to develop zero-carbon, baseload, clean energy sources that achieve maximum impact in empowering SIDS, Least Developing Countries (LDCs) and Coastal Nations with energy security whilst helping the Earth reduce greenhouse gas emissions and eventually eliminate total dependence on fossil fuel.
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