NGOs Welcome Greenland Scrubber Ban, Urges IMO, other Arctic Countries to Follow Lead

Responding to news that the Parliament of Greenland (Inatsisartut) has directed the government (Naalakkersuisut) to introduce a ban on discharges from highly polluting ‘scrubbers’ from shipping within Greenland’s internal and territorial waters, Dr Kaare Press-Kristensen, senior advisor on air quality & climate at Green Global Future said:

“The decision by Greenland’s Parliament to ban scrubber discharges – a de facto ban on the use of scrubbers by ships operating in its internal and territorial waters – is an important step towards cleaner shipping, and a clear signal for other countries to do the same in their waters to reduce toxic air and water pollution.”

“Greenland can go further with greening Arctic shipping – parliament member Justus Hansen from the Greenlandic party Demokraatit has called on Greenland to create a ‘green shipping corridor’ – where only marine gas oil (MGO) can be used – between Nuuk and Reykjavík, to further protect human health and the marine environment”, added Press-Kristensen.

Greenland will ban open loop scrubbers from July 1st, 2027, and closed loop scrubbers from July 1st, 2029 in inland waterways and territorial seas. The adopted proposal says that ”Naalakkersuisut is directed to introduce a ban, effective from 1 July 2027, on discharges from open-loop exhaust gas cleaning systems within Greenland’s port areas, internal waters, and territorial waters. From 1 July 2029, the ban on the discharge of exhaust gas cleaning water will apply to all systems.”

This story was originally published by Hellenic Shipping News. Read the full story at Hellenic Shipping News →