Oil pollution on the decrease

The Environmental Dimension of Ghana's Investment Code, 1981 (Act 437) The environmental dimension of developmental projects was not entirely ignored in legislation in Ghana either in the colonial past or in the post-independence era. Indeed, the largest engineering project in Ghana, the Volta River (Hydroelectric) Project, recognised possible ecological and social consequences fight from its inception, and the Volta River Authority has pragmatically demonstrated its awareness of the importance of continuously monitoring and remedying undesirable environmental sequelae. The Authority has also actively informed agencies concerned with new water development projects of problems likely to emanate from such activities. In spite of this, various observers have been concerned with ensuring more explicit recognition of environmental issues in the many habitatmodifying schemes in the country that have been prompted by recent efforts to extend potable water to more people and to stimulate agricultural production through irrigation. For such persons, the recent enactment on 1 lth August of the Investment Code, 1981 (Act 437) represents a significant step forward. Perhaps the seminal importance of this Act in the national Ghanaian context parallels that at the international level of the Declaration of Environmental Policies and Procedures relating to Economic Development adopted by the world community of Development Banks, the Commission of the European Communities, the Organisation of American States, the United Nations Development Programme, and the United Nations Environment Programme at New York on 1st February 1980. As stated in the prolegomenon, the purpose of the Code is "to consolidate and amend the law relating to investment, to encourage foreign investments in Ghana by the provision of incentives, to promote the development of Ghanaian entrepreneurs, to indicate enterprises in which the State and Ghanaians are required to participate in any investVol. 1, No. 4 (1981)

ment and the extent of such participation, to make provision for the registration of technology transfer contracts ...". Part I of the Code deals with the establishment of the Ghana Investments Centre; Part II, the functions of the Centre; Part III, reserved areas of investment and participation by non-Ghanaians in business, etc. in Ghana; Part IV, protection of investments and incentives for investors; Part V, registration of enterprises procedure for grant and cancellation of licences and approvals, and obligations of investors; Part VI, approval and registration of technology transfer contracts; Part VII, supplementary provisions. Three schedules indicate enterprises wholly reserved for Ghanaians, those whose capital must be owned by the state, priority areas of investment, and benefits. Section 11 of the Act, on Criteria for Approvals by the Ghana Investments Centre, specifies six criteria related to economic development, productivity of existing enterprises, balance of payments (including export drive), country-wide distribution of enterprises ("bearing in mind the need to develop the rural areas"), employment, and technology transfer. It then enjoins the Centre, in granting an approval, to "have regard to the effect that the project in question is likely to have on the environment". Further on, Section 23, on Applications for Approval to Enjoy Benefits Conferred by the Code, requires of investors a detailed description of the enterprise, the details including, inter alia, "the effects which

the activities to be carried on by or in relation to the enterprise are likely to have on the environment (including natural resources) and the measures which the investor proposes to undertake for combating any adverse effects" (Subsection 23(2)(0). The section (Subsection 23(6)) also enables the Centre to stipulate such conditions as it may deem fit in an approval under the Code. Where a condition of approval under the Code is not fulffflled, Section 27 enables the Centre to suspend or cancel a licence or an approval. These provisions set the stage for a new phase of sustainable, responsible and environmentally-sound development. More than before, they make it imperative for policy makers and investors to be fully educated on environmental issues, and for technical systems (manpower and facilities) to be strengthened towards providing reliable scientific information and assessments on which the Ghana Investments Centre can base its decisions. Of course the general public must also be appropriately educated on the rationale of combining development with protection of the environment and conservation of natural resources. The public must also be made to appreciate its responsibility and role in fostering this approach to development. There are strong reasons for educating all sections of the community: the legislative provisions, to be effective in practice, must be understood and accepted by the community and fully backed by the political will of the whole people. It is hoped that a similar environmental awareness will characterise other Acts enacted by Ghana and by other developing countries. Professor E. Laing Ghana

Oil Pollution on the Decrease * The amount of oil entering the oceans from ships in 1980 could have been 30 per cent less than in 1971, despite the fact that the amount of oil transported by sea had increased from 1.3 million tons to 1.58 million *Courtesy FAO Information Service.

tons, according to a report prepared for the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization. The estimate prepared by a meeting of government and industry experts convened by IMCO states that 1,503,000 tons of oil entered the sea last year compared with 2,133,000 in 1971. 323

The survey was prepared by IMCO as a contribution to a workshop on the amount of oil entering the marine environment which is to be held in November by the National Research Council of the United States National Academy of Science. The most widely quoted estimate of the amount of oil pollution of the world's oceans was made by the NAS in 1973, using data relating to 1971. The November workshop is intended to update this study and to estimate the amount of oil which entered the ocean in 1980. Although it is not entirely appropriate to make a direct comparison between the 1973 study and the latest IMCO estimate, because the information used was not always the same, the IMCO report indicates that considerable progress has been made in reducing oil pollution. One area in which a major improvement has been made since 1971 is in pollution arising from routine tanker operations--tank cleaning, discharge of ballast water and so on. The NAS study estimated that in 1971 1,080,000 tons of oil entered the sea in this w a y - - h a l f the total contributed by shipping. By 1980, the IMCO estimate says, this has been reduced to 709,000 tons. The improvement could well be even greater, since many experts believe that the amount of oil entering the sea as a result of tanker operations in 1971 could have been much higher than one million tons. One reason for the improvement is the increasing use of the 'load on top' system, whose use is required by regulations adopted by IMCO in 1969 and which became international law in 1978. This system is now estimated to be used by almost all the world's long-haul tankers. Although as many as 80 per cent of these ships were already using loadon-top in 1971, the IMCO study says there has been a significant improvement in operational efficiency since the 1973 estimate was made. The reasons for this include: -In 1971 tankers were allowed to discharge unlimited quantities of oily wastes outside prohibited zones (generally 50 miles from land) but this practice is now illegal. - There has been a significant improvement in the awareness of masters and crews, owners and operhtors 324

of the existence of and the need to observe international anti-pollution rules. - Surveillance and control of discharges have been considerably tightened in many countries. - T h e increase in oil prices since 1973 has resulted in more careful handling of cargo oil, with less oil left on board after discharge. -The inclusion of cleaner seas provisions in charter party agreements has alleviated the economic disadvantages for operators to retain oily residues on board. Some of these factors have also affected the amount of oil discharged into the sea prior to dry-docking. The 1973 study estimated that half the tankers going into dry-dock at 18-monthly intervals discharged tank washing residues into the sea before they arrived. By 1980 some survey intervals had become longer, port reception facilities were more widely available, oil had increased in value and international anti-pollution regulations were being more widely and effectively enforced. 1981 1973 estimate estimate Tanker operations

'000 tons '000 tons 709 1,080

Dry-docking Terminal operations Bilges and fuel oil

34 40 314

250 3 500

Tanker accidents Non-tanker accidents

390 16

200 100

1,503

2,133

The IMCO study estimates that only 34,000 tons of oil entered the sea from this source in 1980, compared with an estimated 250,000 tons in 1971. The IMCO study estimates that around 40,000 tons of oil a year enters the sea as the result of terminal operations, including bunkering. The NAS put the 1971 figure at 3,000 tons. A considerable amount of oil is discharged into the sea from machin-

ery space bilges and in the form o f fuel oil sludge and oily ballast from fuel tanks. Pollution of this type is caused by ships of all categories and

tankers alone produce only a small percentage of the total, which the IMCO study estimates at 314,000 tons in 1980. The NAS figure for 1971 is 500,000 tons. The IMCO study estimates that 125,000 tons enter the sea following discharges of machinery space bilges (only 11,000 tons of which come from tankers); 186,000 tons are fuel oil sludge (13,000 tons from motor tankers, the contribution from steam tankers being insignificant); and some 3,000 tons come from oily ballast carried in fuel tanks. Despite disastrous consequences of some tanker accidents, the IMCO study concludes that only 390,000 tons entered the sea in this way in 1980. In addition, 16,000 tons of oil were lost as a result of accidents to non-tankers, making a total of 406,000 tons. In estimating the amount of oil entering the sea as a result of accidents, the IMCO survey team considered various sources, one of them being an estimate made by the International Tanker Owners' Pollution Federation Ltd. This states that 2,731,000 tons of oil entered the sea following tanker accidents between 1974 and 1980. This represents an average of 390,000 tons a year and although the ITOPF figure showed that only 187,000 tons entered the sea as a result of accidents in 1980 the IMCO team felt that the average figure was more appropriate, since the annual figure varies considerably according to the occurrence of catastrophic incidents. The new estimate is particularly encouraging in view of the expansion of the world fleet between 1971 and 1980. The gross tonnage of the world fleet rose from 247 million gross tons to nearly 420 million, while the tanker fleet alone grew from 169 million deadweight tons to 339 million. The IMCO report expects that further improvements will take place in the future, as international meas u r e s - n o t a b l y the entry into force of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78)--comes into effect. The report, which will be presented to the NAS workshop by Mr. Y. Sasamura, Director of IMCO's Marine Environment Division, says: "The

The Environmentalist

1973 NAS report states that if the new international convention (i.e. MARPOL 73) is strictly enforced the total petroleum hydrocarbon contribution to the sea from tankers would be reduced from 1.08 to 0.2 million tonnes per annum. The analysis made in the present estimate, which represents the transitional period to the full implementation of MARPOL 73/78, appears to confirm the observations made in the 1973 study". To date MARPOL 73•78 has been ratified by 11 countries whose combined merchant fleets represent nearly 40 per cent of world gross tonnage. It will enter into force a year after being ratified by 15 countries whose fleets total 50 per cent of world tonnage. The report points out that a number of assumptions had to be made due to the non-availability of data. If further data can be collected this will be presented to the NAS workshop. The summary of the IMCO survey is given below. The NAS estimate of 1973 is also shown although, as stated above, the sources used for the two studies were not the same and a direct comparison should be treated with caution. []

First International Maritime Prize Mr Modolv Hareide, Norway's former Director-General of Shipping and Navigation, has become the first recipient of the International Maritime Prize. The prize is to be presented annually to the individual or organization adjudged to have done most to further the aims of the InterGovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization, the United Nations maritime agency. The prize itself is a statuette of a dolphin, a creature which is not only one of the most graceful of all marine mammals but has traditionally always been regarded as a friend of seafarers. The presentation was made in London on 25 September 1981, by Mr C P Srivastava, Secretary-General of IMCO, and was accepted on Mr Hareide's behalf by the Norwegian Ambassador, His Excellency, Mr Frithjof Jacobsen. This formed part of this year's World Maritime Day. []

The Environmentalist, 1 (1981) 325-327

The Institute of Environmental Development- Paraguay Readers of this journal will be interested to learn of the creation of The Institute of Environmental Development (IDA) of the Department of Architecture at the National University of Asuncion, Paraguay. The IDA has been organized for the purpose of orienting the students of architecture to the subject of the environment, to acknowledge the extreme necessity that exists in the field of architecture to facilitate this knowledge, and to contribute knowledge about the practice of environmental protection.

The Institute seeks to establish communications with other institutions specializing in environmental studies for the exchange of information and the possibility of developing cooperative efforts. Enquiries, if at all possible in Spanish, should be directed to: Architect Julio G Escabar

Director Instituto De Desarrollo Ambiental, Facultad de Arquitectura, Universidad Nacional De Asuncion Asuncion Paraguay

ConferenceReports Environmental Impact of Common Agricultural Policy Environmental damage resulting from the EEC's Common Agricultural Policy was discussed at a two-day seminar in Brussels, Belgium, Sept. 2 4 - 2 5 , 1981. The seminar entitled "The World Conservation Strategy and the European Community", was organised by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), a coalition of over 60 leading environmental NGOs in all countries of the European Community. Leading members of the European Parliament and the EEC also participated, under the auspices of Dr Karl Heinz Narjes, the Commissioner whose portfolio includes responsibility for the protection of the environment in the EEC countries. A spokesman for EEB said the Community's foreign aid programmes were also scrutinized in terms of their environmental impact and long term viability. "The European Community is the appropriate level to begin implementation of the World Conservation

Strategy", commented Dr Lee Talbot, Geneva-based Director-General of IUCN, the organisation which developed the strategy, with the advice, cooperation and financial assistance of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). All three organisations jointly sponsored this seminar. "The Community is the level at which the agricultural policy for ten industrialised nations, including external trade matters of the agricultural policy, is made. The Community coordinates a large part of the development aid of its member states with over 50 developing countries, via the Lom6 Treaties, and the Community is becoming increasingly involved in a very active environmental policy in its own right" he added. The Common Agricultural Policy has come under increasing criticism from environmentalists especially in France, West Germany and Holland. They

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