COP27: How oil pollution on conference server threatens one of the world’s largest barrier reefs

Climate-hardy Red Sea reefs are brimming with toxic waters, according to leaked documents.

Egypt is hosting world leaders this week to discuss action on climate change as part of the United Nations’ COP27 conference. But while this is happening, an oil terminal is dumping toxic waters on the Red Sea coast, according to a BBC News Arabic investigation. The spill threatens a rare species of coral known to hold hope for ocean life in the face of global warming.

Leaked documents obtained by the BBC and nonprofit news organization SourceMaterial reveal that “produced water” (or wastewater) from Egypt’s Ras Shukeir oil terminal is discharged into the Red Sea every day.

The raw fluid that rises to the surface during oil and gas drilling contains high levels of toxins, oil and grease.

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Documents that Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company (Gupco) sought to hire a company to purify water in 2019 say pollution levels are “not in line” with Egyptian environmental laws and regulations.

According to the documents, 40,000 cubic meters (equivalent to 16 Olympic-sized swimming pools) of this toxic water spills into the Red Sea every day.

Greg Asner, an ecologist at Arizona State University, says the information is “very worrying” as it indicates contamination by lead, cadmium, copper, nickel and other heavy metals. “You don’t have to be an expert to know that something is wrong here,” he says.

Leaked documents show that the Egyptian government has been aware of the wastewater problem since at least 2019, after British oil company BP sold its 50% stake in the project to UAE-based Dragon Oil. The remaining 50% belongs to Egypt’s state oil company.

The BP sale was part of the company’s decision to divest $10 billion in assets. Analysts said BP’s plan is to ensure the sale helps the multinational meet its climate goals.

“It’s not surprising that BP and others would rather sell their dirtiest and most environmentally damaging assets than clean up on their own,” said UK Green Party MP Caroline Lucas.

BP told the BBC that the sale of its stake in Gupco was for financial reasons, not as part of its plan to meet climate targets. The company also said that questions about toxic wastewater belong to Gupco.

Gupco and the Egyptian environment ministry did not respond to the BBC’s request for an interview.

Access to the Ras Shukeir facility is restricted to oil workers and government investigators. But the BBC was able to use satellite imagery to examine the extent of the water pollution.

Analysis of high-resolution satellite images shows a patch of green up to 20 km offshore to the south, in areas home to marine life.

Satellite analysis company Soar.Earth used remote water quality monitoring techniques to study the slippery layer. Sergio Volkmer, the company’s remote sensing specialist, says the stain is “not a moss flower” but rather something below the surface, such as locally emitted sediments or liquids.

The same green blotch can be seen in the first satellite image the BBC was able to find in 1985, suggesting that the oil terminal may have been dumping toxic water into the Red Sea for decades. It is still visible in the latest image taken in September 2022.

Asner also surveyed the area using the Allen Coral Atlas, a high-resolution satellite instrument that monitors coral reefs.

While there are signs of a thriving ecosystem on both sides of the affected area, he says it’s “suddenly hard to see through the water,” due to “something that looks like pollution on the surface.”

Gera Troisi, a professor at Brunel University in London who studies the effects of toxins on organisms, says compounds found in the drained water can react with seawater, absorbing oxygen and suffocating even the most resilient marine life.

“We’re drowning [a vida marinha] and then we’re pulling back your access to light because of all that suspended solids.”

The UN warns that if average global temperatures increase by 1.5°C, 90% of the world’s corals will disappear.

However, although sea temperatures in the Red Sea are increasing faster than the global average, the “super coral” in this region has proven to be resistant to the effects of climate change.

Some scientists believe that Red Sea corals may hold the secret to saving corals around the world. Oceanographer Sylvia Earle says more research is needed to find out what makes this coral less vulnerable to rising temperatures.

But he says the Red Sea coral “is of paramount importance to the international community because of the possibility of transplanting Red Sea corals to rehabilitate degraded reefs in other parts of the world, such as the Great Barrier Reef.” [na Austrália]????????

Although coral reefs cover only 0.1% of the oceans, they are home to 30% of the biodiversity in the sea. In the Red Sea, they are a lifeline for endangered species such as turtles, as well as helping with fishing, marine agriculture and tourism, creating a source of income for millions of Egyptians.

Scientists – both in Egypt and internationally – have recommended that the region in which Gupco operates be included in a new marine protected zone in the Red Sea to encompass the entire area known as the Great Fringe Reef. Currently about 50% of the reef is in the area.

Activists had been waiting for the expansion of the protection zone to be announced by the Egyptian Ministry of Environment at COP27. But no announcement has been made so far.

Oil companies Shell and Chevron have recently explored new oil and gas wells within 30 km of protected portions of the Great Fringing Reef.

– This text was published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/geral-63647054https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-63647284.

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