Delay on cleaner shipping fuel law would put more than 200,000 lives at stake

11/10/2016

Published on October 11, 2016 – 10:46

Those who will suffer most benefit least from global trade.

The on-time implementation (in 2020) of a global low-sulphur fuel law for ships would prevent 200,000 premature deaths globally, a health study by a group of leading researchers from the United States and Finland reveals. Oil and gas industry association IPIECA and a group of shipping companies represented by BIMCO, are pushing hard to delay the measure for five years, The Guardian reveals. Later this month the International Marine Organisation (IMO) will decide whether to stick to the 2020 date, which was agreed by acclamation back in 2008 [1]. NGOs Seas at Risk and Transport & Environment (T&E), observers at the IMO, condemn any delay in the implementation of the sulphur cap for ship fuel, which would be unacceptable and unjustifiable.

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Andy Lane
October 11, 2016 at 2:01 pm
12 years should be long enough to find a sustainable solution, so shame on all. Problem with IMO is that everything is always super fluffy, if only they knew that no-one was truly complying with the VGM rules – no more so now than they anyway were.

200,000 sounds a whole lot more than 0.003% of the global population. We seem to forget that exports from these areas do provide some good effects to improve diets and life-styles. If only we could rid them of dire corruption. But did we not forget that in coastal West Africa life expectancy is anyway only 55-60 years. Did we also forget that privately owned and operated autos kill 1,000,000 people per year.

Nothing like a good mathematical stimulation to provide fuel for a fire.

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