- In recent times the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) asks the governments frequently to build back greener.
- NEP’s Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP) aims to implement the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean.
- 21 Mediterranean countries and the European Union took part in the Barcelona Convention, calling for greener renaissance in Mare Nostrum.
- With corona pandemic around, the journey to green recovery may begin with relatively small steps.
- The proposed Emission Control Area for Sulphur Oxides in the Mediterranean (Med SOx ECA) would cap Sulphur Oxides (Sox) content in fuel oil burnt by ships.
An emission control area for sulphur oxides in the Mediterranean is not a panacea. But it would open new possibilities for the region’s future while contributing to its health, writes Gaetano Leone for Euractiv.
Barcelona Convention
Meeting in Naples, Italy, on 2-5 December 2019, the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention adopted a “Roadmap for a Proposal for the Possible Designation of the Mediterranean Sea, as a whole, as an Emission Control Area for Sulphur Oxides Pursuant to MARPOL Annex VI, within the Framework of the Barcelona Convention”.
- Though tabled before the pandemic, the proposal epitomises the kind of steps needed to build back greener in the region.
- Mediterranean leaders have an opportunity to demonstrate that they mean green business.
The aim of the study
The study is commissioned by the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC).
The UNEP/MAP Regional Activity Centre jointly administered with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Med SOx ECA would translate to a 78.7% drop in Sox emissions.
In addition, emissions of particulate matter (PM 2.5) would also be slashed by 23.7%.
The populous coastal zones
In the Mediterranean, which hosts the world’s busiest shipping lanes, effects of this magnitude would matter greatly, especially in the populous coastal zones.
What are effects of curbing SOx emissions
The air pollutants leads to risks of contracting lung cancer, cardiovascular illnesses and asthma.
Med SOx ECA would bring significant benefits for the environment, too.
When released in the atmosphere, Sulphur Oxides can cause acid rain and exacerbate ocean acidification.
Curbing SOx emissions would improve visibility both inland and at sea across large swathes of North Africa and in the Straits of Gibraltar.
Support for Med SOx ECA
Regional solidarity in the spirit of the Barcelona Convention, includes through technology transfer and capacity building.
It would go a long way in assuaging concerns about possible difficulties in dealing with the regulatory, technical and economic implications of the proposal.
The positive ripple effect of Med SOX ECA would go beyond the shipping sector.
It would sweep through the Blue Economy and its multiple interfaces with land-based revenue-generating pursuits.
International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies
As we mark the first observance of the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies on 7 September, let us hope that the Med Sox ECA will be the breeze that fills the sails and pushes the sustainability ship forward.
The proposed Med SOx ECA would cap Sulphur Oxides (Sox) content in fuel oil burnt by ships at one fifth of the legal limit currently in place.
Gaetano Leone is coordinator of the Mediterranean Action Plan, a multilateral environmental agreement in the context of the Regional Seas Programme of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
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Source: EURACTIV
