United States: Nations look to make ship recycling safer, greener.Byline: sanjayV03 All Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. newsHONG KONG (AP) - Governments gathered Monday to hash out measures to make recycling old ships safer and more environmentally sound amid criticism the proposals would fail to limit pollution and protect workers in the industry. The five-day meeting in Hong Kong Hong Kong (hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. was expected to see countries approve international rules governing the ship breaking industry, based largely in South Asia This article is about the geopolitical region in Asia. For geophysical treatments, see Indian subcontinent. South Asia, also known as Southern Asia , whose practices kill scores of workers every year and leave beaches stained with oil and other chemicals. Among rules being considered: controlling the amount of hazardous materials ships are built with and requiring older ships to be broken down in yards that meet certain environmental standards. Adopting a ship recycling convention will help limit the industrys impact on "safety, health and the environment for this and future generations," Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, secretary general of the International Maritime Organization International Maritime Organization (IMO), specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1948, with headquarters in London and 158 member nations. IMO is one of the smallest of the UN agencies. , told delegates in Hong Kong. At the same, he called on government to balance efforts to make ship recycling safer and greener with "commercial requirements ... industry concerns and any associated economic considerations." Critics complained the draft would safeguard industry interests at the cost of workers and the environment. They say the convention falls short, lacking effective enforcement and failing to hold responsible Western ship owners for removing and treating noxious waste from their vessels. It also allows beaching, an environmentally hazardous Environmentally hazardous is a chemical hazard, where significant damage to the environment is caused by a chemical substance. It is defined in the Globally Harmonized System and in the European Union chemical regulations. practice in which ships are broken down along the shoreline; its commonplace in South Asia. "This does more harm then good," said Ingvild Jenssen of the NGO NGO abbr. nongovernmental organization Noun 1. NGO - an organization that is not part of the local or state or federal government nongovernmental organization Platform on Shipbreaking, a Brussels-based group of 14 environmental and human rights organizations. "Theyre going to rubber stamp some dangerous practices." Ship breaking, like other industries in an age of globalization globalization Process by which the experience of everyday life, marked by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, is becoming standardized around the world. Factors that have contributed to globalization include increasingly sophisticated communications and transportation , migrated several decades ago from the West to the developing world. Up to 1,000 ships are broken down each year, mostly in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan and to a lesser degree China and Turkey, according to industry estimates. Copyright : Euclid Infotech Pvt. Ltd. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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