The United Nations has a new fundraising strategy: you
The United Nations has a new fundraising strategy: you
The United Nations is trialing a new way to raise cash: crowdfunding. The U.N. hopes the public will pitch in for part of the $129 million it needs to avert a potential environmental disaster in the Red Sea.
At issue is the FSO Safer — a rusty, aging oil tanker parked 4 miles off the west coast of Yemen. The ship holds about 1 million barrels of crude oil. But the FSO Safer has been barely maintained since late 2014. That’s when Houthi rebels seized the area surrounding the ship from Yemen’s government amid a brutal civil war.
The corroding ship is now “a ticking bomb off the shore of Yemen, ready to explode at any minute,” said Mohammed Al-Hadhrami, Yemen’s ambassador to the U.S.
As the ship deteriorates, experts are calling for urgent intervention to prevent an explosion or oil spill.
“If we don’t act, the Red Sea will turn black,” said David Gressly, the U.N.’s resident humanitarian coordinator for Yemen.
An oil spill from the tanker would make Yemen’s hunger crisis worse by poisoning local fisheries, Gressly said. It could also halt drinking water desalination in the region and bring shipping to a standstill.
Plus, the damage may not be limited to the Red Sea itself.
“We have to worry about air quality,” said Chris Reddy, a scientist who researches oil spills at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. “If some of this crude oil gets leaked, it does have some components that can evaporate and potentially harm humans if they breathe it.”
But there is some promising news: After years of negotiation, the U.N. has signed a deal with the Houthis to avert disaster. The plan is to transfer the oil off the FSO Safer onto a more secure tanker. That new tanker is already en route to the Red Sea.
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