Sulphur deal amongst IMO’s finest moments
17.04.2008
Speaking at the DNV UK Maritime Forum today (Thursday 17 April), the Chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping, Mr Spyros M Polemis, spoke about the successful and decisive IMO agreement for reducing ships’ sulphur emissions achieved by IMO governments two weeks ago.
He said that the agreement represented one of IMO’s ‘finest moments’, not only for the governments involved, who would be able to ensure the protection of the health of their citizens, but also for IMO’s system of international regulation, which was so important to the industry. Assuming the deal is confirmed by the IMO nations in October, ICS earnestly hopes that this will be enough to satisfy the politicians – especially in North America and Europe - that there was no need for unilateral regulations at variance with the IMO regime.
Mr Polemis remarked “It has certainly confounded the sceptics who believed that IMO could not meet the challenge of delivering an agreed outcome to introduce more stringent standards for air emissions on an acceptable timescale.”
Commenting on the IMO’s proposal to progressively reduce sulphur emissions globally to the equivalent of 0.5% sulphur content in fuel by 2020, and in designated sensitive coastal areas to 0.1% sulphur content by 2015, Mr Polemis said:
“This should give the oil refiners the time they need to make the necessary investment decisions in order to ensure that the required quantities of low sulphur fuel will be readily available, at a reasonable cost.”
Mr Polemis said that ICS had been determined to ensure that the IMO regulatory solution was based on a proper scientific analysis of the net environmental benefits, and a full appreciation of the oil industry’s ability to deliver the new fuels required – something which was achieved by the work of the IMO Scientific Working Group in 2007 and which had made the recent IMO agreement possible. He was especially pleased that the IMO agreement was consistent with the principles which ICS had advocated throughout the complex negotiations during the last 18 months: the need for goal based compliance options; the need to take account of the impact on other emissions; the need to stimulate technical innovation; and agreement on both short term and longer term goals.
Above all, said Mr Polemis, the agreement took the industry forward towards its goal of eliminating all forms of maritime pollution, globally.
He said that the agreement represented one of IMO’s ‘finest moments’, not only for the governments involved, who would be able to ensure the protection of the health of their citizens, but also for IMO’s system of international regulation, which was so important to the industry. Assuming the deal is confirmed by the IMO nations in October, ICS earnestly hopes that this will be enough to satisfy the politicians – especially in North America and Europe - that there was no need for unilateral regulations at variance with the IMO regime.
Mr Polemis remarked “It has certainly confounded the sceptics who believed that IMO could not meet the challenge of delivering an agreed outcome to introduce more stringent standards for air emissions on an acceptable timescale.”
Commenting on the IMO’s proposal to progressively reduce sulphur emissions globally to the equivalent of 0.5% sulphur content in fuel by 2020, and in designated sensitive coastal areas to 0.1% sulphur content by 2015, Mr Polemis said:
“This should give the oil refiners the time they need to make the necessary investment decisions in order to ensure that the required quantities of low sulphur fuel will be readily available, at a reasonable cost.”
Mr Polemis said that ICS had been determined to ensure that the IMO regulatory solution was based on a proper scientific analysis of the net environmental benefits, and a full appreciation of the oil industry’s ability to deliver the new fuels required – something which was achieved by the work of the IMO Scientific Working Group in 2007 and which had made the recent IMO agreement possible. He was especially pleased that the IMO agreement was consistent with the principles which ICS had advocated throughout the complex negotiations during the last 18 months: the need for goal based compliance options; the need to take account of the impact on other emissions; the need to stimulate technical innovation; and agreement on both short term and longer term goals.
Above all, said Mr Polemis, the agreement took the industry forward towards its goal of eliminating all forms of maritime pollution, globally.
