Reduction of Emissions of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) from Ships - Prevention of Pollution of the Marine Environment from Vessels - page 110

non-party States will also suffer as no country solely relies on its own vessels for the
export and import of goods.
Second, vessels flying the flag of non-party States may also have to adhere to
these regulations as many coastal and port States that are party to the regulations
may implement the amendments within their territory.
As discussed in Chapter 2, Part XII of the United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) imposes a general obligation to protect and preserve the
marine environment. 35 UNCLOS has also obligated the State parties to adopt laws
and regulations for the prevention, reduction and control of pollution of the marine
environment from vessels flying their flag or of their registry. Such laws and
regulations shall at least have the same effect as that of “generally-accepted
international rules and standards”. 36 This indicates that “generally-accepted inter-
national rules and standards” is a minimum level of control. In the exercise of their
sovereignty within their territorial sea, coastal States may adopt laws and regula-
tions for the prevention, reduction and control of marine pollution. 37 The issue of
vessel-source air pollution has been handled separately from atmospheric pollution.
UNCLOS imposed an obligation on both coastal and flag States to create a national
legal framework for prevention of vessel-source air pollution, taking into account
internationally-agreed rules, standards and recommended practices and proce-
dures. 38 Again, article 222 of UNCLOS imposes an obligation on the States to
implement and enforce international rules and standards for the prevention of
vessel-source air pollution. 39
It is important to determine whether the regulations on energy-efficiency intro-
duced by the amendment can be treated as GAIRS 40 under UNCLOS. GAIRS is
arguably a standard adopted by a competent international organization. The main
issue here is whether these regulations can be treated as laws and regulations for the
prevention, reduction, and control of pollution of the marine environment from
vessels. This issue was hotly debated in the negotiation process. 41 It was argued by
a number of delegations “that MARPOL Annex-VI was not the proper legal
instrument to include energy-efficiency measures for ships, that such measures
were not within its scope, and that the structure of Annex-VI prevented such
measures from being effective. In their view, CO 2 was not technically a pollutant
and therefore had no place in the MARPOL Convention”. 42 However, the Deputy

35

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea , opened for signature 10 December 1982, 1833
UNTS 3 (entered into force 16 November 1994) art. 192 (hereinafter UNCLOS).
36

UNCLOS, arts. 211(2) and 94.

37

UNCLOS, art. 211(4).

38

UNCLOS, art. 212(1).
39 UNCLOS, art. 222.
40 For definition of GAIRS, see Chap. 2 .
41 IMO, Report of the Marine Environment Protection Committee on Its Sixtieth Session , IMO Doc
MEPC 60/22 (12 April 2010).
42 Ibid at p. 27.