As shipping traffic is the second largest source of sulphur emissions after the energy industry, limiting the emissions of the shipping industry creates significant improvements in the quality of air. Back when she was a member of the European Parliament, Satu Hassi headed negotiations on the amendment of the sulphur directive, as a result of which sulphur dioxide emissions in the air have decreased significantly and continue to decrease.
“I acted as the reporter for the European Union marine fuel sulphur directive, that is, the leader of the negotiations in the European Parliament when the EU legislation was updated with the new emission standards decided by the International Maritime Organization (IMO),” Satu Hassi says. “Limiting the sulphur content of marine fuels had started much earlier in the IMO. Finland, along with other Baltic Sea nations, was pushing for stricter emission limits for areas such as the Baltic Sea as early as the 1990s.”