Regulation of ship-source pollution in the Baltic Sea
Abstract
The article explores governance structures in shipping with a particular focus on the regulation of environmental protection in the Baltic Sea. Traditionally shipping is regulated in a centralized and hierarchical manner at global level, but in the past few decades a series of developments have taken place providing for a more multi-faceted picture of how environmental protection from shipping is governed in the Baltic Sea and beyond. This article focuses on assessing the existing rules on ship-source pollution from the perspectives of regulatory layers and nature of the rules. It concludes that the key features defining shipping, such as the global nature of the business and the tradition of global rules, continue to play a very dominant role in its regulation. However, a gradual differentiation of regulatory authority has occurred, not least following a more active role taken by the European Union in certain aspects of shipping regulation in the past few decades. The last part of this article focuses on broader governance issues, discussing other kinds of steering mechanisms than legislation and the role of non-governmental actors in the field. It is concluded that while shipping is still governed differently than most other sectors of marine environmental protection, a number of developments, notably in the field of ships' air emissions, have contributed to a more varied governance system in the past years.
- Publication:
-
Marine Policy
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- DOI:
- Bibcode:
- 2018MarPo..98..246R
- Keywords:
-
- BSAP;
- Baltic Sea Action Plan;
- EEDI;
- Energy Efficiency Design Index;
- EEZ;
- Exclusive Economic Zone;
- EMSA;
- European Maritime Safety Agency;
- ESSF;
- European Sustainable Shipping Forum;
- HELCOM;
- Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission ─ Helsinki Commission;
- IMO;
- International Maritime Organization;
- MARPOL;
- International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships;
- PSSA;
- particularly sensitive sea area;
- UNCLOS;
- The 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea;
- Shipping;
- UNCLOS;
- IMO;
- European Union;
- Governance;
- Environmental protection