It is urgent to create an Emissions Control Area in the Mediterranean.
It is urgent to create an Emissions Control Area in the Mediterranean.- Coinciding with the celebration of the 78th Environmental and Climate Negotiations for International Maritime Transport (MEPC78) of the International Maritime Organization, Ecologists in Action insists on the urgency of declaring an Emissions Control Area in the Mediterranean.
- In addition, the environmental organization calls for the immediate elimination of heavy fuel oil and effective climate measures for maritime transport.
- The maritime industry has evaded climate and environmental regulations until now and continues to run on the most toxic and dirtiest fuels.
On June 6, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London begins the 78th Environmental and Climate Negotiations for International Maritime Transport (MEPC78). The agenda includes discussions about a Mediterranean Emissions Control Area on wastewater generated by the desulfurization of exhaust gases from the combustion of heavy fuel oil, as well as climate measures.
The proposal by all coastal countries and the EU to declare the Mediterranean as a Sulfur Oxide Emission Control Zone (called SECA) will be discussed to be presented for approval at the next meeting of the Committee on Protection of the Marine Environment in December 2022. Together with environmental organizations in the region, including the German NABU - which will represent the Coalition for the reduction of emissions from maritime transport at the IMO - Ecologistas en Acción has been fighting for this for four years. regulation and welcomes it.
Maria García, portavoz de Ecologistas en Acción, ha declarado: «La comunidad internacional debe tratar positivamente la propuesta de un Área de Control de Emisiones en el Mediterráneo. No se necesitan más discusiones. Los Estados miembros deben iniciar las gestiones necesarias para que pueda ser adoptada formalmente en la próxima reunión del comité en diciembre. Esta es la única manera de garantizar la entrada en vigor de la SECA en 2025».
In emission control zones, pollution from shipping is significantly reduced. Millions of residents benefit, as do natural ecosystems and the climate. With the designation of the Emission Control Area, at least some regions may see relief until new measures to reduce emissions from shipping come into effect.
Today the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and the coastal waters of North America are emission control areas for SOx and NOx. For the Mediterranean, all coastal states agreed to work on reducing NOx emissions through an Emissions Control Area that also includes this pollutant. A decision is expected for submission to the IMO in December 2023 during the Barcelona Convention COP23 in Slovenia. On the other hand, debates are still beginning on the designation of an Emissions Control Area for SOx and NOx in the Atlantic.
Ecologistas en Acción insists that all greenhouse gas emissions from shipping must be halved by 2030 and shipping must also be climate neutral by 2050. “Heavy fuel oil must be banned immediately. Any declaration about environmental intentions or climate protection without a ban on this toxic fuel sounds like a mockery of the climate and ecological emergency,” María García added.
Seagoing vessels burned around 165 million tonnes of heavy fuel oil worldwide in 2020. Also in that year the sulfur limit for marine fuels was drastically reduced and, instead of 3.5 %, only the 0.5 %. A significant reduction, even if it is a marine diesel that is 500 times more toxic in sulfur oxides than car diesel.
For the environmental organization, unfortunately thousands of ships continue sailing with heavy fuel oil (highly toxic but cheap) because regulations allow it to be used if the ships use a gas purification system ('scrubbers', for its acronym in English). This system washes polluting emissions, but dumps the toxic wastewater it generates directly into the sea, with enormous impacts on marine ecosystems.
María García concluded: “To take a clear course towards climate protection objectives, the expansion of new port terminals and the growth of the sector must be immediately stopped, and a plan to reduce the maritime transport sector must be addressed. The new scenario of energy decline forces us to work on a change in the productive and economic model, relocated and with low energy consumption and material resources, that responds to the basic needs of the population in the face of foreseeable collapses in global chains.
