World Wildlife Fund-Canada has brought a lawsuit to challenge Royal Dutch Shell’s offshore exploration permits in Canadian waters.
The environmental conservation group is targeting permits for drilling in Lancaster Sound in the Nunavut territory on the grounds that the permits are four decades old and should be considered expired.
WWF-Canada says Shell is not conducting any exploration activity there at present.
And the permits are an obstacle to conservationists’ efforts to finalize a Lancaster Sound National Marine Conservation Area, which has been being considered by the federal government since the 1970s.
Last year Shell suffered a double blow to its US Arctic presence when it gave up exploring in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea and the US government announced it will cancel two Arctic exploration leases.
