Athens, 28 May 2015 –
Several key environmental NGOs working on sustainable shipping have met with
Greek and European policy makers to discuss concerns related to the shipping
industry's high emissions, marine pollution and poor shipbreaking practices. As
one of the largest shipping nations, Greece has a particular responsibility to
mitigate pollution caused by ships.
The day before the
official opening of the European Maritime Days in Athens, both Greek
Environment Minister Yannis Tsironis and Director of the Greek Ministry of
Shipping Agisilagos Anastasakos exchanged views on possible solutions for
sustainabe shipping with an NGO coalition consisting of MedSOS, Greenpeace,
Surfrider Foundation Europe, Transport and Environment, and the NGO
Shipbreaking Platform.
Whilst there was
agreement that environmental concerns related to shipping need to be tackled at
the international level, European Parliament rapporteur on the monitoring,
reporting and verification of carbon dioxide emissions from maritime transport
José Inacio Faria strongly argued that Europe has an obligation to take the
lead when international solutions are weak or fail to gain consensus. Member of
the European Parliament Stelios Kouloglou from Greek government party Syriza
also maintained the EU's responsibility to counter poor practices related to
air and sea pollution and substandard shipbreaking on South Asian beaches [1].
European ship owners
control 40% of the world fleet and Greece is the European Union's largest ship
owning Member State. Several European policies target the environmental
performance of shipping. The environmental NGOs ask for the following actions
at the EU level to secure a shift towards a truly sustainable shipping industry
in a joint policy briefing [2]:
inclusion of shipping
emissions in the climate and energy package's 40% reduction commitment by 2030
together with concrete measures to achieve this;
expansion of liability
to all stakeholders in maritime transport and the integration of the
recognition of Ecological Prejudice into European legislation;
urgent establishment of
a network of marine reserves to safeguard the sea, its productivity, its marine
life, and its ecosystems for the millions of people who rely on it for their
health and well-being;
incentives to reward
those who are at the forefront of environmental protection, eco-innovation,
sustainability, and support infrastructure transformation; and
rapid publication of the
list of approved ship recycling facilities so that the new EU Ship Recycling
Regulation's requirements become applicable, and secure the establishment of a
financial incentive to ensure compliance with the Regulation and the principle
of "polluter pays".
The Greek shipping
industry should play a significant role in the reduction of air emissions and
marine pollution. Greek ship owners should also opt for safe and
environmentally sound ship recycling
"Greek ship owners
have for many years been the worst dumpers of end-of-life vessels sold to
substandard shipbreaking yards. In order to reverse this trend, we expect the
new Greek government to hold its ship owners responsible and in the future to
direct Greek-owned end-of-life vessels to EU-approved ship recycling
facilities", says Patrizia Heidegger, Executive Director of the NGO
Shipbreaking Platform.
CONTACT
Patrizia Heidegger
Executive Director
NGO Shipbreaking
Platform
Source: NGO Shipbreaking
Platform
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