A group of European NGOs has reinforced a call to declare the Mediterranean Sea an Emission Control Area (ECA) as part of the European Commission’s (EC) Green Week.
The Med ECA NGO network, with members from France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Germany, wants the region to be an emissions control area for sulphur and nitrogen oxide emissions (SECA and NECA).
The group said SOx, NOx and (ultra) fine particle (PM) emissions from ships contribute substantially to a significant threat to human health, the environment and climate in the Mediterranean.
Anna Gerometta, president of Italian group Cittadini per l’Aria, said 2021 is a decisive year to reduce air pollution from ships in the Mediterranean basin.
“All Med countries must agree at COP26 of the contracting parties of the Barcelona Convention in December to submit a proposal to declare the Mediterranean Sea an ECA to the International Maritime Organization,” she said.
Maria Garcia, policy officer at Spain’s Ecologistas en Accion added: “High ambient concentrations of PM2.5 due to ship emissions are perfectly corresponding with major shipping routes.” PM2.5 particles have a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres which is more than 100 times thinner than a human hair.
The submission should also include a ban of toxic heavy fuel oil and on all scrubbers, added Vasilis Papadopoulos, legal advisor to Hellenic Ornithological Society/BirdLife Greece.
Germany-based Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union policy officer Beate Klunder said data from the North and Baltic Sea ECAs show their effectiveness with emissions falling substantially and more than 1,000 premature deaths per year being prevented.
“It is appalling that northern Europeans are more protected than people living around the Mediterranean Sea. This unequal treatment must be stopped immediately,” said Klunder. The region has about 250m residents.
Recent impact assessments commissioned by France, the EC and the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea claim that the designation of the Mediterranean Sea as SECA and NECA would avoid up to 10,000 premature deaths annually, the groups said.
Sulphur oxides would be reduced by 95%, PM2.5 emissions by 11% and harmful nitrogen emissions by up to 70% with the designations, they added.
The EC, the European Union’s executive body, has previously signalled it might throw its weight behind a beefier Med ECA.
