Footage released by the Houthis from the takeover of the Galaxy Leader ship. November 20, 2023/Social media documentation under Section 27A of the Copyright Law
Hypocrisy is celebrating: It seems that in the present day and age, it is insufficient to claim that warlike measures are being taken in self-defense, defense of economic interests, or the eradication of terrorism.
For example, at the beginning of the Ukraine war, a major part of the arguments in favor of massive aid to Ukraine concerned fear of severe damage to the climate and fear of global hunger due to the damage to grain cultivation and marketing. At the time, great emphasis was also placed on the environmental damage caused by the destruction of the Nova-Kakhovka Dam or the catastrophic environmental damage expected from damage to the Japornaya reactor.
Similarly regarding the state of fighting in Gaza, alongside steps taken by the Hague court regarding "genocide," there are also claims about the magnitude of the environmental damage accompanying the destruction of Gaza and its daughters. Presumably, these voices will increase as the "case" on "genocide" fades.
On the other hand, there is no discourse on the environmental crisis brought on by Houthi terrorism. "Alongside the economic damage, the Houthi crisis leads to enormous environmental emissions, unplanned emissions that throw away considerable efforts to reduce emissions in the shipping industry," explains Adv. Gidi Prishtik, partner and head of the Environment and Sustainability Department at Meitar Law Firm, as well as Chairman of the Environment Committee at the Israel Bar Association.
"According to the International Maritime Organization, the rate of carbon dioxide emissions emanating from ships is about 2-3 percent of all oxygen dioxide emissions emitted from human sources. This is a mega-pollution in climate terms. In fact, pollution from ships is considered one of the leading pollutants in the world."
Up to 20 additional sailing days
The announcements by the world's largest cargo carriers such as Maersk, MSC, ZIM, Hapag-Lloyd, CGM, CMA and Yang-Ming, as well as giant tanker operators such as BP, regarding refraining from sailing in the Red Sea, imply severe ongoing environmental damage. If for a moment we thought that Maersk and others were returning to sailing the short route, the events of the past two weeks prove otherwise, and the Allies' actions against Yemen still have no results on the ground.
"This has broad implications in several circles," explains Adv. Prishtik, "The main one is that the sailing time of each shipment is extended by an additional 10-20 sailing days, and increasing environmental emissions accordingly. We are talking about hundreds of vessels a month, whose sailing time and emissions will be extended and sometimes doubled or even more."
"For example, 50 ships cross the Suez Canal every day, most of which will now be diverted to bypass the African continent. And that's just the beginning. It should be taken into account that disrupting the order of the ports of call and even canceling some of them leads to a significant increase in the cost of transportation. The optimization that characterizes the industry in such a way that fewer containers are loaded on each ship will be violated. A ship arriving at a different destination than planned unloads containers loaded onto dozens and sometimes hundreds of trucks that emit unnecessary and unplanned pollution on local roads on their way to the original destination port. In addition, many products with limited shelf life or products that are needed on short-term timing will not be loaded onto ships because they will now be transported by air, which is more polluting transportation by several orders of magnitude."
And the world is silent
Adv. Prishtik continues, "In order to prevent even a small part of such a new mega-pollution, impressive international conferences and conferences have been held to date, and sometimes even treaties are signed. In order to illustrate to the world the danger of sailing on polluting ships, Greta Thunberg sailed to international conferences in a solar-powered electric yacht."
"Despite the alarming scale of environmental pollution, her voice, as well as that of UN and other international institutions dealing with the environment and the climate crisis, is still not heard. It is easy to imagine what the reaction of these institutions would be if the increase in carbon footprint had occurred because of Israel."
- More on the subject:
- Real Estate
- Houthis
- Gaza War
- Iron Sword War