Cooperation in Greenland between public sector,
private sector and civil society in order to protect the
environment
Lonnie Bogø Wilms
Managing Director
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Independent territory within the Kingdom of
Denmark
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Worlds largest island (2,166,086km2)
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Most sparsely populated country in the world
(Population: 56,114)
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Arctic to subarctic climate
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The Greenland ice sheet covers approximately
80 % of the country
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Narrow mountainous coast
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Hardly no infrastructure
More info: www.visitgreenland.com
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Frontier area
Political hydrocarbon strategy
developed late 1990’s/early 2000
18 active exclusive licenses for
exploration and exploitation of oil and
gas currently
Major “players” as operators: Chevron,
ConocoPhillips, Shell, ENI, Maersk,
Cairn Energy, Husky, Statoil
More info: www.bmp.gl
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Responsibility for response to pollution at sea
from oil and chemicals lies within 3 jurisdictions:
◦ Inside 3 nautical miles: Jurisdiction of the Ministry of
Nature, Environment and Justice
◦ Spills from hydrocarbon related activities: Jurisdiction of
the Mineral License and Safety Authority (MLSA),
regardless of whether the spill is within or outside 3 nm
of the Greenland coast.
◦ Outside 3 nautical miles: Jurisdiction of the Danish
Government, in practice, the Joint Arctic Command has
the authority to request suitable equipment and
personnel from the Danish contingency equipment
stockpile.
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Greenland Oil Spill
Response was
established in 2012:
◦ owned by the
Government of
Greenland
◦ Sponsored by the
industry
◦ Background: large
stockpile of oil spill
response equipment
donated by Cairn Energy
to Greenland in 20102011
Greenland Government
Board of Directors
Managing Director
Operations Manager
Outsourcing of
maintenance,
mobilization and
accounting
Semi-volunteer
responders
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Greenland Oil Spill Response has a large
amount oil spill response equipment suitable
for oil spill response in Greenland.
◦ Same equipment supplied to Cairn Energy in 20102011 by OSRL (Tier 2 stockpile in a Greenlandic
West Coast setting)
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Reasoning behind the establishment of
volunteer oil spill response organization
 Local knowledge and drive to protect local
environment
 Faster response time
 Testing of equipment
 Network building and engagement with
local stakeholders
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Agreement on funding and
project content
Lot of considerations
◦ Volunteer vs. Semi-volunteer
◦ Recruiting – how to sell the concept
◦ Setting the right level
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Training commenced in June 2015
◦ Conducted in Greenlandic and Danish
◦ Based on IMO level I /First level of response to oil
spills
 Adapted to Greenlandic conditions
◦ 6 weekends:
 Practical training and exercises with GOSR’s equipment
takes up about 50 % of the training
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25 % fall-out (better than average)
Diverse social and cultural background not an issue
Bilingual teaching with hands-on training works!
Positive response in local communities
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Industry support to local engagement is the
way forward
Adaptation to local environment is necessary
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Thank you
Any ?’s
www.gosr.gl
e-mail: [email protected]
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