Following two new decisions made by the International Maritime Organization, Christian Estrosi wished to commend this essential gesture. These decisions directly pertain to air pollution and the protection of cetaceans in the Mediterranean.
It was on December 15th in London that the 79th Marine Environment Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organization was convened. The meeting aimed to ratify the creation of a sulfur oxides emission control area at 0.1% (SECA area) across the entire Mediterranean territory. This decision will come into effect on May 1, 2023, along with the designation of a particularly vulnerable maritime area (PSSA) throughout the Northwestern part. This zone encompasses the entire Pelagos sanctuary and aims to reduce ship collisions with cetaceans.
Decisions Praised by Christian Estrosi
Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice, spoke following these essential decisions:
“I welcome these two major advances in the policy of protecting the Mediterranean basin.”
He also emphasizes that the widespread adoption of the 0.1% sulfur standard for ships is a necessary measure that has already been in place at the Port of Nice since January 2020. This represents a considerable gain in reducing air pollution compared to the coastal pollution of marine ecosystems. This standard, five times lower than the international threshold, will thus allow for more than 78% reduction in sulfur emissions and 23% reduction in ultrafine particle emissions. These improvements concern a basin that concentrates 20% of the world’s maritime trade, with 220,000 ships per year.
The Mayor also added:
“We must now move towards Zero Sulfur initiatives and define a protection zone against all forms of pollutants, massively supporting the development and production of new decarbonized engines.”
He also commends the progress of the mediterranean PSSA project, driven by France, Spain, Italy, and the Principality of Monaco. This project supports the protection of marine mammals within the Pelagos sanctuary, bordering our metropolis. The Mayor hopes that the measures associated with this area will be enacted as soon as possible. This aims to reduce the risk of collisions, the leading cause of whale mortality in the Mediterranean. In this regard, ship speeds will be reduced in high-risk areas, and it will also be mandatory to maintain greater minimum distances in the presence of cetaceans.
