Green Economy in a Blue World-Full Report

alike – that it requires a global regulatory framework, with rules which are enforced on a uniform and worldwide basis to all ships trading internationally, in order, among other objectives, to minimize pollution and best improve the sector’s environmental performance. In short, the IMO principle of ‘no more favourable treatment’ between the enforcement of rules which apply to national flag ships, as opposed to visiting ships of different flags, is fully accepted. For the most part, therefore, the basic enabling conditions for the greening of shipping at the international level already exist in the form of IMO. The Organization is, of course, an intergovernmental, rather than a supra-national, entity, with a membership of 170 Member States. While it is still national laws which give effect to the implementation and enforcement of the relevant IMO Conventions, with very few and relatively minor exceptions, national regulations applicable to international shipping contain no variations to the substance of the IMO Conventions governing safety or environmental protection to which they give effect. However, while IMO is the principal UN agency regulating international maritime transport, other international bodies and can also impact on shipping too, not least the UN itself, other agencies such as ILOand the LondonConvention Secretariats also. In the context of efforts to confront climate change, this is certainly the case with respect to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Cooperation and coordination among these entities is essential

in order to avoid duplication of effort and, in particular, opposing regulation of shipping from the technical and operational perspective. In this respect, there may be a lack of understanding within some national government departments or agencies concerned with environmental, and/or ocean issues, about the effective role which IMO plays with respect to the environmental performance of maritime transport. The efficiency of IMO as an international regulator, and its ability to contribute to the transitionofmaritime transport into the green economy, would be assisted by improving awareness and appreciation of its effectiveness amongst other relevant agencies and departments which impact on shipping – especially those with broader responsibility for the environment – whether at national, regional or international level. 3.3 Building effective regulatory frameworks for the sector It is again helpful perhaps to make a distinction between regulation to deliver further improvements to help eliminate marine pollution by ships (including atmospheric pollution in the vicinity of coastlines) and the contribution to the green economy which shipping can make more generally with regard

in a Blue World

to the reduction of its CO 2 emissions. 3.3.1 Regulation of marine and atmospheric pollution

Asdiscussedabove,IMOalreadyhasanimpressive track record of enabling governments to agree

Seaborne oil trade and tanker spills

Number of spills

Billion Tonne - Miles

120

12 000

100

10 000

80

8 000

60

6 000

40

4 000

20

2 000

0

0

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

Source: International Tanker Owners’ Pollution Federation Ltd. (ITOPF) Note: number of spills over 7 tonnes are accounted in this chart

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