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KIMO is an international association of Local Authorities,
which was formally founded in Esbjerg, Denmark, in August 1990 to work towards
cleaning up pollution in the North Sea. It has over 100 members in 9 countries including the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Faeroes Islands and the Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland with associate members in Germany and the Isle Of
Man.
KIMO'S
OBJECTIVES
- Exchange
information on effective pollution prevention and cleaning up operations.
- Lead
by example by improving regional marine environments.
- Lobby
national Governments and the EC to take effective action on issues
affecting Northern Seas.
- Make
joint representations against threatening proposals.
- Undertake
demonstrative environmental projects
A lack of emission control regulations has allowed ships
to become major dischargers of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and diesel
particulate matter. Ships’ engines generally operate on heavy bunker fuels
containing high concentrations of sulphur and toxic compounds banned from use
in most other industrial and consumer applications. The pollutants emitted
contribute significantly to acid rain, coastal water eutrophication
and create damaging health effects for communities near major port areas.
It is generally accepted that shipping is an
environmentally friendly means of transportation. However future initiatives,
such as "short sea transport" to promote the transfer of goods and
passengers from land based transport networks to sea based modes will also
transfer pollution sources. As commercial vessel operations increase, so also
does the threat to marine ecosystems and people’s health, especially in coastal
regions.
Expanding
and introducing environmentally optimised water-borne public transport.
While there has been a relative strong environmental
development in public transport on land, the development in the marine sector
has lagged behind. The aim of a project in Göteborg is therefore to build an
environmentally optimised river shuttle (with a gas engine) to be used for
public transport in the city centre.
More
information: http://www.zetnet.co.uk/coms/kimo/ |