Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will ban discharge from all vessels in UK territorial waters.

The Government regulates discharges from vessels in UK waters and takes action domestically and internationally to reduce environmental impacts from shipping, including at the International Maritime Organization.

The UK has agreed with international partners, through the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (the OSPAR Convention), to phase out discharges from exhaust gas cleaning systems (commonly known as “scrubbers”) in ports and inland waters, in response to evidence of potential impacts on the marine environment.

The UK is contributing to analytical work to assess the impacts of extending these restrictions to territorial seas and to consider how any such measures could be implemented effectively in UK waters.