News and Analysis • Volume 1 • Number 2 • December 2007
Environmental groups target shipping emissions
The shipping industry’s greenhouse gas emissions have been off the public’s radar screen, and apart from a small group of experts, they have been ignored even by most of the climate and trade communities. This seems about to change.
US groups take action
On 3 October, the California Attorney General Jerry Brown and a coalition of environmental groups simultaneously petitioned the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate emissions from marine shipping causing climate change.
The environmental groups Earthjustice, the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth and Oceana said that “the sheer number of these ships, coupled with operating practices that use fuel inefficiently and poor government oversight, results in carbon dioxide emissions” equal to “the emissions of 130 million to 195 million cars.”
The petitions came in the wake of a US Supreme Court ruling in April, which confirmed that the EPA has the jurisdiction to regulate in the area of climate change. The current petitions were the first to be filed after the Supreme Court decision, and would affect global shipping operations.
Even though potential EPA rules would apply to US territorial waters only, they would apply to all vessels operating there, regardless of their country of origin or country of flag. Tough rules in the US would likely also lead the country to push for tightened rules at the international level through the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
Petition calls for efficiency, cleaner fuels
The petition asked the EPA to act by “(1) requiring marine shipping vessels to meet emissions standards by operating in a fuel-efficient manner, using cleaner fuels, and/or employing technical controls, so as to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and black carbon, and (2) controlling the manufacture and sale of fuels used in marine shipping vessels by imposing fuel standards to reduce emission products that contribute to global warming.” The EPA will have to provide a response to the petition within six month’s time.
“If the US is to do its part in reducing the threat of global climate disruption, then EPA must limit the global warming emissions from ships that enter the ports of the United States,” commented California Attorney General Jerry Brown. Danielle Fugere of Friends of the Earth noted that “Slower speeds, cleaner fuels, better ships - the steps that the shipping industry must take are clear. It’s up to the EPA to ensure these steps are taken.”
Representatives of the shipping industry called for a global approach. “We would prefer to see these issues resolved at the international level,” said T.L. Garrett, vice president of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association. “Then everyone’s on a level playing field. We think it’s the most efficient way of advancing these environmental initiatives.” Joe Angelo, deputy managing director of Intertanko, a group representing independent tanker operators, agreed that the best approach was “to reduce emissions worldwide - universally - not just unilateral action in the United States or the European Union.”
Shipping - a major source of pollution
According to the petition by the environmental groups, marine vessels produce close to three percent of the world’s greenhouse gases. The worldwide fleet of 90,000 ships transports 90 percent of the world’s goods, and only six countries emit greater amounts of greenhouse gases. Shipping has grown by three percent annually on average over the last three decades, and shipping emissions are projected to grow by more than 70 percent by 2020, as global trade expands. More recently, Intertanko released informal preliminary data showing that greenhouse gas emissions from marine transport have grown rapidly, and are almost twice as high as previously thought. The rapid growth over the last six years is due both to the growing volume of trade, and increasing shipping speeds with more fuel being burned. The Intertanko report, when completed, will be presented to the International Maritime Organisation.
Study looks at ship pollution and human health
A recent study has linked pollution-related illness and mortality to emissions of seafaring vessels.
The study, conducted at the University of Delaware in the US, links approximately 60,000 lung- and heart-related deaths in 2002 to the pollution and chemicals emitted by large shipping freighters. According to the researchers, these deaths were due to the poor fuel standards of the shipping industry. Over the last couple of decades, the international community has taken steps to reduce emissions from other sectors, but the shipping industry has been left largely unregulated. Emissions from buses and trucks have, for example, been reduced by almost 90 percent.
Freighters, however, travel the open seas, leagues away from the coastal inhabitants that fall ill. Inhabitants near major trade routes will be most affected, mainly in South and East Asia and Europe. By 2012, the study predicts that the death rate is likely to grow by 40 percent.
International shipping accounts for eight percent of global sulphur emissions. This is unsurprising considering that the industry largely uses bunker fuel, which is the waste byproduct of distillate oil. Thus it contains the excess sulphur driven out by the distillation process, in concentrations upwards of 2000 times higher than in highway diesel fuel. The researchers call on the international community to update shipping standards in order to better protect the environment and lives of coastal inhabitants.