The seabed is drowning from pollution

Marie BERGERON

Do you know the other side of the shipping story? The exported products you buy in stores, the orders you make on the internet... What impact do they have on the environment?

Today I decided to talk to you about a problem that is close to my heart: the call for help from the seabed.

So no, I'm not going to talk to you about the trawlers that are destroying our marine fauna and flora or about the number of waste products that keeps growing... at least I'm not going to talk to you about that today.

I would like to focus on maritime transport,which,according to experts,will account for 17% of global gas emissions by 2050. No,you' re not dreaming, 17%!

Today, maritime transport accounts for 3% of total greenhouse gas emissions: that is more than the carbon footprint of a country like Germany. Unfortunately it is growing far too fast...around 90% of goods are transported by sea and this is not going to change if we don't act.

The pollution generated by maritime transport is diverse and does not only revolve around greenhouse gas emissions which have an impact on global warming... Other pollution such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and health-related emissions are real. I can also add to this the loss of containers at sea, the risk of ships colliding and so on...

There is therefore real work to be done on the motorization of maritime transport which, today, still uses a very polluting fuel oil.

I hope that these few words have meant something to you and that you understand the importance of acting now, alone we can do nothing but all together we can not only save the world but also improve it !