MED News 01/2019

Ineris and its partners, Citepa, Cerema and Plan Bleu, present the results of the ECAMED Study, whose objectives are to evaluate the cost and benefits for air quality of the implementation of an Emissions Control Area (ECA) in the Mediterranean Sea. The conclusions show an interest for the implementation of such a measure and present the benefits for port cities. ECAMED has shown that the establishment of an ECA (or SECA / NECA), synonymous with reduction of sulfur oxide emissions (change to 0.1% sulfur content in fuels) and emissions of oxides of nitrogen (implementation of cleaner engines), would lead to health benefits at least three times higher than costs. More information...

Plan Bleu co-organized with partners from the InnoBlueGrowth project an international conference entitled “Strengthening the Science-Practice-Policy interface in Blue Growth” in the Mediterranean region, which was held on 16-17th of April 2019 in Marseilles, France.

The InnoBlueGrowth project – or “Horizontal Communication & Capitalization project for Innovation in Blue Growth at Mediterranean level” (Interreg MED), led by the National Interuniversity Consortium for Marine Sciences (CoNISMa) and counting on the experiences of the Association of Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASCAME), the Intermediterranean Commission of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR), Plan Bleu, the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), and the University of Montenegro, aims at ensuring the communication and capitalization activities of thematic projects dealing with Blue Growth issues in order to increase their impacts towards common identified targets. Its activities are focused on the increase of the transnational activity of innovative clusters and networks of key sectors of the Mediterranean area.

This capitalization and community-building event highlighted the main deliverables of Blue Growth projects in terms of knowledge transfer from research to industry and to policy-makers.

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REMPEC, the IMO-administered pollution emergency response centre in the Mediterranean, supported the 4th edition of the Adriatic Oil Spill Conference (ADRIASPILLCON 2019) held in Opatija, Croatia, between 28 and 30 May 2019, which was attended by representatives from Eastern Europe, funded through IMO’s Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP).

ADRIASPILLCON 2019 encouraged further discussions on the development of a sub regional oil spill contingency plan for the Adriatic Sea region, by providing a forum for States, regional and international institutions, oil, chemical and shipping industries, academic community, individual experts, specialised companies and equipment manufacturers to share their knowledge and experience.

The regional conference further focused on the level of preparedness of the region to respond to oil and chemical marine pollution, as well as mitigation of the risk and challenges of (future) offshore activities in the Adriatic Sea.

REMPEC shared its extensive experience and expertise in building capacity on oil spill preparedness and response in the wider Mediterranean region, including the support provided to other States, which contributed to the adoption of various other sub-regional contingency plans in the Mediterranean.

Further details concerning the ADRIASPILLCON 2019 can be found on the Conference website.

There is a widely held perception that land-based human activities are the only cause of air quality degradation. In the public’s perception, industrial plants and automobile exhaust pipes spewing black smoke are associated with air pollution, not ships. Yet, vessels carry today an estimated 80 per cent of all goods traded in the world. In 2017, the global maritime transport fleet grew by 3.15 per cent in terms of deadweight tonnage and by 2.47 per cent in terms of number of vessels (compared to 2016). Maritime transport is the backbone of international trade and an important source of pollution with adverse impacts on human health and ecosystems.    

The Mediterranean Sea is host to the world’s busiest shipping lanes and is the second busiest cruising region in the world after the Caribbean with 15.8 per cent of global cruise fleet deployment in 2017 (MedCruise Association, 2018). Ship movements, which often occur close to the densely populated coasts of the Mediterranean countries, result in emissions of toxic gases and Particulate Matter (PM) from fuel combustion, including sulphur oxides (SOx).  

SOx emissions contribute to the formation of sulphate (SO₄) aerosols which, along with other types of PM, are able to penetrate deep into the lungs of humans and all living organisms. Exposure to such pollutants is linked to lung cancer, cardiovascular illnesses and asthma. Ecosystems suffer from the deposition of SO₄ particles which increase acidification of surface water and soil. Sulphate also takes a toll on human-made buildings and infrastructure, including vulnerable world heritage sites. At certain concentrations in the air, SO₄ increases haze and reduces visibility.   

The UN Environment /Mediterranean Action Plan – Barcelona Convention system is working with the Contracting Parties on what could well become a sea change on air quality in the Mediterranean. We have been considering an adequate regime to cut ship emissions since the early 2000s, but we have never been closer to a breakthrough. This year’s Meeting of the Contracting Parties (COP 21) in Naples will examine, for the first time, the possibility of designating the Mediterranean Sea or parts thereof as an Emission Control Area (ECA) under Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL).

Under MARPOL, countries bordering a specific sea basin can request the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to designate that sea as an Emission Control Area for sulphur oxides (SOx ECAs). So far, the Baltic and North Sea as well as the North American coasts have been designated as SOx ECAs by IMO. We hope that the Mediterranean Sea will be next.   

On 1 January 2020, an IMO requirement will reduce the sulphur content permitted in ships fuel-oil globally from 3.5 per cent to 0.5 per cent, except in SOx ECAs where ships are required to use fuel with just 0.10 per cent sulphur. A feasibility study commissioned by REMPEC on behalf of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention recently established that the designation of the Mediterranean Sea area, as a SOx ECA (the proposed Med ECA) would lower emissions by 78.7 per cent for SOx and 23.7 per cent for PM2.5, when comparing to the expected emissions of the relevant pollutants in the scenario where only the IMO sulphur cap (0.5 per cent) is in place.

The incentives for taking bold action on curbing air pollution from ships in the Mediterranean are compelling. In addition to reducing lung cancer and cardiovascular disease mortality, air quality modelling used in the REMPEC study shows widespread reductions in wet and dry SOx and PM depositions with positive impacts on aquatic systems. The designation of the proposed Med ECA would increase aerosol optical depth, a physical phenomenon associated with reduced haze and improvements in visibility. Improvements in visibility would notably be felt over the Straits of Gibraltar, northern Morocco and Algeria, and along the main shipping lane connecting the Straits of Gibraltar to the Suez. They would also extend far inland over North Africa.   

REMPEC submitted a draft road map as well as an initial draft submission to the IMO for review and consideration, to the 13^th Meeting of its Focal Points to be held in Floriana, Malta, on 11-13 June 2019. The draft road map will then be considered by the 13^th Meeting of the Focal Points of UN Environment/MAP prior to a potential adoption at COP 21 (Naples, Italy, 2-5 December 2019).

If this process comes to fruition, the submission of a joint and coordinated proposal to the IMO for the designation of the proposed Med ECA could be made in 2022, with a possible entry into force of the related amendment to MARPOL Annex VI some time after March 2024. With the ancillary benefits that it may carry for climate change mitigation efforts, the Med ECA would be a huge leap forward for the entire region and a significant accomplishment in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

There is hope in the air.

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Useful resources:

Visit the World Environment Day (WED, 5 June) page and take part in the global #BeatAirPollution Campaign by using the WED 2019 practical guide.

Explore UN Environment’s work to improve air quality to protect the environment and human health

Read the IMO article Sulphur 2020 – cutting sulphur oxide emissions

The French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME), with the support of its Mediterranean partners: the Union for the Mediterranean (UPM), Plan Bleu and the Agency for sustainable Mediterranean cities and territories (AViTeM) has invited with success all stakeholders from the Mediterranean territories to participate in the 2nd edition of the Climate Change Adaptation Awards in the Mediterranean. These awards was intended for climate change adaptation actors (local authorities, national agencies, public universities, NGOs and companies) in coastal, urban and rural areas around the Mediterranean. Award ceremony held on 29 May 2019 in Lisbon. More information… 

SCP/RAC calls for proposals to identify concrete business options and best practices to tackle plastic packaging in the F&B sector that can be replicated in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. The list will be compiled into a guide or set of guidelines in which each option will be analyzed, detailed and complemented by specific business examples and replicability options.

SCP/RAC, supported through the Cooperation Agreement between UN Environment and IMELS (Italian Ministry of Environment Land and Sea) and EBRD (European Bank for Construction and Development), is conducting a series of activities aiming at improving the policy framework and engaging with the food & beverage industry in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro for tackling plastics packaging value chains in a circular economy.

Interested applicants are invited to submit their bid by 3^rd July midnight (CET) following the instruction laid down in the ToRs.

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PAP/RAC took part in the celebration of the European Maritime Day organized in Lisbon, Portugal, on 16-17 May 2019. Particular focus of PAP/RAC interest has been, among others, be on the session: Adaptation to 1.5C of global warming in ocean and coasts: Urgent action. This session was an excellent opportunity for exchanging experiences, lessons learned, identifying successes, needs and challenges, while its main goal is producing short- and long-term recommendations to mainstream adaptation to impacts in ocean and coastal areas while seizing opportunities towards a climate resilient Blue Economy. PAP/RAC presented the ICZM Protocol in the Mediterranean as a tool for the regional adaptation, and  the Coastal Plan for the Šibenik-Knin County, Croatia, as a local approach to adaptation and local application of the ICZM Protocol.

The Sub-regional Workshop on the use of RETOS_TM was organised by the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) (Valletta, Malta, 24-26 April 2019), in the framework of the Western Mediterranean Region Marine Oil and HNS Pollution Cooperation (West MOPoCo) project, co-financed by the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO).

Eighteen (18) participants, Algeria, France, Italy, Malta, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia, representing national competent authorities in charge of the preparedness for and response to marine pollution from ships. In addition other members of the Project Consortium, amongst which  including the Centre of Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution (Cedre), the Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), and  the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF) participated to the workshop.

The Workshop allowed to achieve the first objectives of the Project:

(a)    acquire hands-on working knowledge of the use of the “Oil Spill Response Planning and Readiness Assessment Manual” and its accompanying Excel™ tool (RETOS_TM), to identify and analyse gaps in national oil preparedness and response programs; and

(b)    apply a harmonised and clear approach, leading to high-quality assessment of national oil spill contingency plans, across the Western Mediterranean region.

The event also included technical support provided by Sea Alarm Foundation, which introduced its Self-assessment Tool for oiled wildlife preparedness. The agenda of this Workshop is available on the following link.

The participants acknowledged the practicality of the tool, which enables the identification of needs at national and sub-regional level, and recommended that such a workshop is organised in other areas of the Mediterranean region so as to extend a harmonised approach to the entire region.

With the technical assistance of the West MOPoCo Project, each beneficiary country will produce national self-assessment reports including gap analysis, performance analysis and an improvement programme of their respective national oil spill contingency planning.

The next step will be to organise a national event in each beneficiary country involving all national competent authorities so as to discuss the outcome of the assessment and to agree on the way forward to implement the improvement programme.