Brussels, 18/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - The proposal by the European Commission to impose stricter rules on harmful sulphur dioxide in shipping fuels (EUROPE 10420) is a very good thing, but the initiative has been a long time coming, as it will simply adopt IMO standards adopted three years ago into EU legislation, environmental NGOs point out. They therefore urge the European Parliament and Council to approve the proposal before shipping becomes the main source of atmospheric pollution in the EU.
“With many ships using fuel which is 3,500 times dirtier than car fuel, we are pleased to finally see EU action”, states Bill Hemming of the NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) in a press release dated 18 July. Louise Duprez of the EEB stresses that “lowering the sulphur content of marine fuel is a direct and effective way of avoiding thousands of premature deaths each year”. Emissions from shipping have many negative impacts on health and the environment (50,000 premature deaths a year in Europe, respiratory diseases, aggravation of heart problems and acid rain) and emissions from shipping are set to rise by 40% between now and 2020, the NGOs explain. (A.N./transl.fl)