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Angers (pte041/28.04.2003/15:05) - At a meeting in Angers, G8 ministers of the environment have demanded that oil tankers be better protected against leakage such as that caused by the sinking of the "Prestige" oil tanker off the Spanish coast last year.
Oil is still oozing from the wreckage by the tons, as reported by BBC Online http://news.bbc.co.uk . According to BBC correspondents, differing views between Europe and the USA on the Kyoto Protocol also came to light during the discussions.
"The Prestige catastrophe has shown that existing laws on the equipment of tankers must be reevaluated," said one minister in his concluding remarks.
The G8 ministers have also demanded that the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) supply additional funds to victims of the oil spill and that the transitional phase from single to double-hull tankers be shortened. According to environmental organizations, the double-hulled ships are safer, but more expensive to build.
Greenpeace has pointed out that about 5,000 tankers pass through the straits of Gibraltar each year, and that there is an elevated risk of catastrophe in the passage.
Without referring directly to the Kyoto Protocol, some G8 ministers also demanded a further reduction of greenhouse gases in order to meet the "objective goal" of the UN Convention on Climate Change, as reported by the BBC.
Another topic of the G8 meeting was to discuss the request of the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) to send a special delegation to Iraq to assess environmental problems in the war torn country.
The talks are to continue in June, when China will also be taking part in the discussions. Over 3,000 people demonstrated against the environmental politics of the G8 countries during the meeting in Angers.
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