| Consultation: | Global Greens Congress Korea 2023 |
|---|---|
| Proposer: | Australian Greens, Japan Greens |
| Status: | Modified |
| Submitted: | 07/05/2023, 00:29 |
| History: | Version 1(07/05/2023) |
Recalling all relevant international instruments, particularly the Convention
and Protocol on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and
Other Matter(1972/2006), Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free
Zone,the SEANWFZ Treaty (Bangkok Treaty)(1995)South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone
Treaty -Treaty of Rarotonga(1985) and the Convention for the Protection of the
Natural Resources and Environment of the South Pacific Region - Noumea
Convention(1986).
Noting that signatories to these international conventions and treaties must
uphold the commitments that have been made to keep the sea and the Pacific
region free of environmental pollution by radioactive and nuclear waste and
other radioactive matter, and to uphold legal obligations to prevent ocean
dumping and any action to assist or encourage dumping by other states.
Recommending that:
That the Global Greens:
1. Condemn plans by the Japanese government to allow some 1.25 million tons of
treated wastewater contaminated by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant to
be discharged into the Pacific Ocean.
2. Request TEPCO to disclose the estimated amount of tritium and carbon-14 that
ALPS (advanced liquid processing system) cannot process, in addition to the
total amount of radioactive materials in the water treated by the ALPS.
3. Call for the immediate cessation of this plan in order to protect the health
of the peoples of Japan, the Peoples of the Pacific Region and Pacific Rim, and
the environment and biodiversity of the Blue Pacific.
4. Call for the construction of a concrete and steel dam underground instead of
the frozen soil barrier currently in use to reduce the amount of groundwater
entering the buildings and being contaminated.
5. Call on the Japanese government to enable the ongoing storage of treated
nuclear waste from Fukushima to occur on land.
6. Support the Green Party of Japan in its campaign against further nuclear
energy plants and against the dumping of nuclear waste in the Pacific.
7. Support the engagement of the Pacific Leaders Forum (including Greens Parties
of Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands) in the
decommissioning of the Japan Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
8. Support the aims of the Blue Pacific and its leaders in recognition of the
need for a unified approach to address the challenges facing the region. We
recognize that protection of the oceans and the environment, sustainable
development, regional security and stability are priorities.
9. Facilitate and support urgent action by Greens parties, civil society and
NGOs to support international treaties and conventions which call on parties to
enact the prohibition the dumping of radioactive wastes or other radioactive
matter into the Blue Pacific.
Concluding that:
We, the Greens must re-commit to supporting Pacific Leaders Forum who reiterated
their “strong concerns for the significance of the potential threat of nuclear
contamination to the health and security of the Blue Pacific, its people and
prospects, and reaffirmed the importance of ensuring international consultation,
international law, and independent and verifiable scientific assessments as per
the PALM9 Declaration.”
Further, we, the Greens, remain vigilant about the historical nuclear
contamination in the Pacific, including the Nuclear Test Site at Runit Dome on
Runit Island of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (commenced already in
2022).
We, the Greens Proposing Group, welcome the support of our Members and the GGC23
on this Resolution for increased national, regional and global coherence and
harmonisation.
We, the Greens, are grounded in four pillars: ecological sustainability,
grassroots democracy, social justice and peace and non-violence and this is
reiterated in our position for a nuclear-free Pacific Region.
Proposed by Keiko Ogata (Japan Green Party) and Cathy Peters (Australian Greens)
Supported by Andrew Kutapae (PNG Green Party) Pefi Kingi (Pacific Greens
Network),Tika Bhandari (Nepal Green Party)
In consultation with Greens key stakeholders:
Executive Committee, Asia Pacific Greens Federation (APGF)-Tika Bhandari,Ade
Zuchri, Erum Saleem, Heather Lonsdale
IDC-Australian Greens Coordinator, International Development Committee (IDC),
Michelle Sheather
Global Issues Group (GIG)Australian Greens-Andrew Morrison, Dominic Wy Kanak
Global Regional Indigenous Network (GRIN)
In April 2021,Japan announced plans to discharge over 1.23 million tons of radioactive waste water stored in tanks from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean. Despite strong criticism from many countries in the Asia Pacific, NGOs and the UN and expert scientific advice, Japan is planning to start releasing this material from July this year and to continue this process for decades.
A number of key international Conventions and Treaties dating from 1972 to 2006 ban the discharge and dumping of nuclear waste into the sea.
The environmental, economic and social impacts of this decision are a key concern for Greens members in Japan, Sth East Asia, and the Blue Pacific. In 2022, the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) sought advice from an independent panel of global experts on nuclear issues which advised that there is insufficient data to classify the impending discharge by Japan as safe for Pacific people and for the ocean’s biodiversity.
It is crucial that the Global Greens highlight their concern with the plan to dump large volumes of treated nuclear waste into the Pacific.
And to commit to highlighting the ongoing impacts of the Fukushima disaster and nuclear testing in the Pacific and the environmental issues with nuclear waste at this time when nuclear energy is being promoted as a clean alternative to fossil fuel energy and in light of the energy impacts of the Ukraine war on the supply of energy fuels.
Selected sources:
Comments
Norbert D'Costa: