Many are the ways in which we can look after our health, and many are the ways that we are being encouraged to do so.  We can eat healthier, we can cut out the habits that detract from our health, we can exercise more and we can even buy less-polluting automobiles or trade in our gas guzzlers for bicycles.

But when it comes to the killer that is air pollution, there is little such direct action that we can take, and as such we are truly at the mercy of the policy makers.  This holds even truer when the source of the pollution in question is out of the hands of ordinary folk, and in the hands of the world’s shipping giants.

Studies have shown that pollution levels from ships in Malta’s Grand Harbour are 10 times higher than pollution levels on the country’s most congested roads. This is a frightening when one considers the amount of people and population density of the harbour area, not to mention further south in other shipping-heavy areas such as Birzebbuga or Marsaxlokk.

Figures published yesterday show the shocking extent of the menace.  Shipping emissions are accountable for 50,000 premature deaths every year in Europe and for €60 billion in health costs per year in the European Union. In the Mediterranean region alone, about 6,000 premature deaths could be avoided if pollution were to be curbed in a significant way.

Air pollution from shipping can account for 40% of all Mediterranean costal city air pollution and let’s face it, Malta is pretty much a coastal city in European terms.  And as such we are facing a significant threat to our health, environment and climate due to ships’ use of heavy fuel oil - highly charged in sulphur and which emits black carbon, heavy metals, fine particulates, and sulphur dioxide.

Remember the Delimara power station’s previous use of heavy fuel oil, which had been labelled by our Prime Minister as a ‘cancer factory’?  Well guess what? It seems such cancer factories come in other shapes and sizes, and when they come in the form of ships, one shudders to think of the health repercussions on the citizens that live in any relative proximity to a port.

The French study released yesterday recommends the establishment of a Mediterranean Emission Control Area - designated under International Maritime Organisation - and the potential health benefits are impressive: particulate matter (PM) could be reduced by up to 20% and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels by up to 76% This, according to the study, would lead to up to €14 billion in reduced health costs and potentially save more than 6,000 lives every year in the region.

The key finding in the report is that the Mediterranean region would benefit most from a combined Sulphur Emission Control Area (SECA) and Nitrogen Emission Control Area. Sulphur dioxide (SO2) would be reduced by 77% and in port areas even by 100%. NO2 would decline by up to 76% in coastal areas and the east of the Mediterranean Sea. The annual mean of particulate matter (PM2.5) would be reduced by 15 to 20%.

While Malta’s healthcare system of course treats diseases caused by air pollution, air pollution is costing the country several millions, if not billions, that it could invest elsewhere for the benefit of the country’s health.

Yesterday’s study suggests that the estimated costs of designating the Mediterranean as an ECA would come primarily from increased fuel prices for cleaner fuel, which costs should be covered by the responsible parties of air pollution at sea – the shippers.

This is one great step that Malta, with its clout at the IMO given that it has one of the world’s largest shipping fleets, could help to achieve. 

We seem to be perpetually talking about Malta becoming the best in Europe or the best in the world, now here is a golden opportunity to seize the bull by the horns and to do just that.