Mirova and Natixis AMas well as 17 other international investors seek an unlimited moratorium on oil and gas activity in the Arctic high seas

Mirova, Natixis Asset Management and three other investors, including Erafp, Ircantec and Prefon, lead an investment group in a statement relating to oil and gas exploration in the Arctic featuring 19 international signatories in total including Actiam, Axa Group, Bank J. Safra-Sarasin, BNP Paribas Investment Partners, Boston Common, Church of Sweden, Danske Capital, EdenTree, Friends Fiduciary Corporation, Nei Investments, Pax World Mutual Funds, Skandia, Trillium Asset Management and Zevin Asset Management. The combined assets of these investors total over 5 trillion euros.

This statement is directed to oil and gas companies that have been involved in oil exploration in the Arctic, as well as Arctic Council members. It is an urgent call to protect the Arctic from future oil exploration activities and align national climate change pledges with the future of the region, which hosts significant hydrocarbon resources.

Commenting this initiative, Philippe Zaouati, CEO of Mirova, explains: “We are very proud to lead this new statement, which is a strong commitment from international investors. Along with other members, we call for coherence with national climate change pledges. On the eve of Climate Finance Day in Casablanca, we would like to involve both companies and policymakers so as to take the Arctic issue to the next level and seek greater protection for the region.”

The statement will be sent to Arctic Council Members, Permanent Participants and Observers to the Council to ask for an unlimited moratorium on any oil and gas activity in the Arctic high seas, the ultimate Arctic frontier that does not pertain to any single national sovereignty. In addition, investors ask that the sovereign territories of the Arctic and Council Member States take into account national climate pledges before granting new licenses or extending existing ones. States are also asked to apply stricter, common criteria to ongoing oil and gas activities so as to restrict approval to only those presenting minimal operational risks and strengthen involvement of indigenous populations in the projectapproval process.

Investors also ask oil and gas companies that may be involved in exploration in the Arctic to commit to a voluntary moratorium on drilling in Arctic marine waters covered by ice due to current technological uncertainty in terms of the effectiveness of oil recovery mechanisms. Furthermore, investors ask that companies avoid exploration in areas identified by the Arctic Council as bearing heightened ecological significance, independent of their legal statuses and on the basis of a precautionary business approach. Finally, investors call upon oil companies to publicly disclose their licenses held in the region, including location and expiry date, whether they intend to use or extend these licenses and how these plans fit with their broader climate change mitigation commitments.