Marseille: Environmental zones for ship traffic?
Due to increased air pollution levels, the city has now started a petition. The petition demands that ships with the highest environmental impact be banned from docking. Whether this will get the attention and support it needs from the French state, however, remains to be seen.
It was only a few weeks ago that Marseille had to react to alarming ozone concentrations with temporary driving bans. More and more often, the southern city has to resort to such measures to get the pollutant levels in the air under control again. So often, in fact, that they now want to go one step further - and set up a permanently active environmental zone for the city. But before the French metropolis demands of its citizens that they buy an environmentally friendly car or even do without their own car directly, the city administration wants to ensure first that harmful emissions are not only taken seriously on the mainland.
The city, which is located on the Mediterranean, suffers greatly from intensive shipping traffic and the resulting air pollution. Now Marseille wants to show that there are no double standards and is launching a petition against the emission-rich maritime traffic. It is no longer possible - according to deputy mayor Laurent Lhardit - to demand more climate-friendly "behaviour from the Marseillais while they can see that 100 metres further on ships are polluting the environment with consistent smoke emissions".
Among citizens, the petition - which mainly asks for a ban on docking at the port for the most polluting ships during periods of air pollution - seems to be equally popular. It has already been signed 47,302 times. But even if all the required signatures can be collected, the success of the initiative might only be on paper. For the implementation of the proposed measure is only possible with the will of the government - and not the city administration. "The French state has a hand over territorial waters and thus over France's ports," explains Nathalie Chaudon, regional director of France Nature Environnement (FNE).
A viable alternative, according to Chaudon, would instead be to call on the local representative of the state, namely the prefect of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône, to act. Since it is always legally possible for the prefecture to adopt stricter standards than the national standards at the local level, and consequently to include a maritime part in the already existing air protection plan in the process, he said. However, regardless of whether the initiative will receive the necessary support from the prefecture or directly from the state, there is still hope for a cleaner Mediterranean.
After all, Marseille is not the only city where the environmental impact of shipping on air quality and citizens' health is felt. In order to counteract these, the Mediterranean states decided last June within the framework of the 8th Committee of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to establish a so-called SECA zone. From 2025 onwards, this zone should cover the entire Mediterranean water area and keep pollutant emissions of sulphur oxides and particles under control.
Even for decision-makers at national and local level, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the need for action on climate protection. What is needed, he says, are measures that look at the situation from an overall perspective and then aim to reduce the pollution caused by transport. Whether on the road, in the air or at sea. The responsibility should be shared fairly among all the guilty parties. And not only for the good of the environment, but also out of a sense of justice towards the population.