Cruise ships are the most polluting transport mode in relation to the number of passengers. It is estimated that a medium-sized cruise ship (with 2,200 passengers and 800 crew members), for a weeklong trip, create up to 210,000 litres of human sewage, four million litres of gray water (water from sinks, bathrooms, showers, laundry and kitchen), eight tonnes of garbage, more than 500 kilograms of hazardous waste and 100,000 litres of oily bilge water. Besides, daily emissions of a cruise ship are compared to those of about 12,000 cars. The current legislation appears to be ineffective and, considering the difficulty to perform periodic inspections, it is also too often not respected. Still very common, unfortunately, are the cases of illegal dumping, especially in international waters, such as “accidental” spills of fuel, heavy oil or similar substances. The aim of this article is to analyse the main environmental impacts of these particular ships, revealing the gaps of existing international regulations, and give suggestions to provide possible solutions for an environmental normative reform of the cruise industry.

Water is an essential element for life, playing an important role in economic devel-opment, although it is threatened by negative externalities that do not make itavailable for everyone. The main purpose of this article is to offer insightful empiri-cal evidence of the nexus between economic growth and water usage. In this arti-cle we investigate the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis using acountry’s water footprint as an indicator of water impact. Using linear and nonlin-ear models we estimate, through the ordinary least square, the relationshipbetween water impact and gross national income (GNI) per capita for 94 Countries.Our study shows an N-shape curve, which does not confirm the EKC hypothesis,both for the relationship between Water Footprint per capita and GNI per capitaand Grey Water Footprint per capita and GNI per capita. From this results, a num-ber of recommendations can be provided to strengthen the water resources poli-cies and management.

Secondo i dati più recenti , elaborati dalle dichiarazioni MUD effettuate nell’anno 2007, la quantità totale di rifiuti speciali prodotta in Italia, nel 2006, è stata pari a 134,6 milioni di tonnellate, di cui 125,5 milioni di tonnellate di rifiuti speciali non pericolosi e 9,2 milioni di tonnellate di rifiuti speciali pericolosi. Secondo i dati riportati nel rapporto “Rifiuti Spa” , realizzato dall'Osservatorio nazionale ambiente e legalità, di Legambiente, in collaborazione con il Comando Carabinieri per la Tutela dell'ambiente, la differenza tra i rifiuti speciali prodotti e quelli gestiti consente di quantificare ogni anno in milioni di tonnellate la quantità di quelli scomparsi nel nulla: si va dai 14,1 milioni di tonnellate del 1997 agli 11,6 del ’98; si “scende” ancora a quota 11,2 nel 1999 per risalire ai 13,8 milioni di tonnellate del 2001 e ai 14,6 nel 2002 (ultimo dato ufficiale disponibile). Lungo le rotte dei traffici illeciti si smaltisce di tutto: dalle terre di spazzamento delle strade ai gessi contenenti amianto, dalle polveri di abbattimento fumi ai fanghi di conceria fino ai rifiuti prove-nienti dalle bonifiche di siti inquinati. Nell’ottica di controllare in modo più puntuale la movimentazione dei rifiuti lungo tutta la filiera è stato istituito il sistema informatico e telematico di controllo della tracciabilità dei rifiuti (SISTRI) che sostituirà l'attuale procedu-ra basata su moduli e formulari.

Protection of ships hulls against biofouling is a process as old as man’s use of ships as a form of transport. Tributyltin-based (TBT) antifouling paints have been successfully used for over 40 years to protect ship's hull from biofouling. However, due to its high toxicity versus marine organisms, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted the AFS Convention, which prohibits the use of harmful organotins in antifouling paints used on ships (entered into force in 2008). This paper reviews recent literature focuses on the evaluation of the available techniques for innovative free-TBT antifouling coatings with a lower environmental impact.

The capacity of marine and coastal ecosystems to sustain seafood production and consumption is seldom accounted for and is not included in the signals that guide economic development. In this article, we review estimates of marine and coastal areas aimed at sustaining catches for seafood consumption. The aim of this paper is the assessment of the interactions between the environment, intended as a set of ecological subsystems in natural equilibrium, including the marine ecosystem, and the process of fisheries systems. In particular we analyze fisheries in Italy, which is the third biggest economy and the greatest consumer of seafood in the Eurozone, conducting an in-depth analysis of the Marine Ecological Footprint (MEF) that evaluates the marine ecosystem area exploited by human populations to supply seafood and other marine products and services. The positioning of Italian fisheries shows a level of sustainability next to the threshold value. The analysis in the present study highlights the importance of absolute indicators in providing rough estimates about human dependence on ecological systems and recognizes the importance of those indicators, such as the Marine Footprint (expressed in % of Primary Production Required/Primary Production), in ensuring a high level of precision and accuracy in quantifying human activity impact on the environment.

The aim of this paper is to identify the state and trends in Croatian marine resource sector which determine the trade balance with Italy. Firstly, size and the structure of the marine fisheries in Croatia are investigated taking into account time trends and the effects of the EU common market policy. Furthermore, we compared the size of export and import of the fishery products. In particular, we look at the relevant indicator of trade with Italy. Since the wholesale market places are established with difficulties in Croatia, the trade channels of the marine fishery products are rather heterogeneous. Next, the market size and structure are analyzed for the specific markets, together with the analysis of the information asymmetry problems. The analysis results with several findings including that the total fish catch volume is accompanied by a decrease in fish catch value. Furthermore, the gap between Italian and Croatian catches in the Mediterranean Sea shrink, and more fish products are exported from Croatia to Italy than imported from Italy to Croatia. The average size of Croatian fishing fleet vessel is still much lower than the average fishing vessel size arriving at Croatian ports. Finally, fish market is underdeveloped in Croatia with low value added created along the trading chains.

In this paper, we have explored the possibility of substituting traditional meat products with an alternative source of protein (insects) in order to reduce human pressure on water. Insects, in fact, could represent a good alternative source of quality proteins and nutrients and they are already a very popular component of the diet of one third of the world's population in approximately 80% of countries. In the study, we have taken into account only two species of edible insects (Tenebrio molitor and Zophobas morio mealworms), because they are already commercially produced even in Western countries, and for this reason it is possible to find specific data in literature about their diets. We have used the water footprint (WF) as a reliable indicator to calculate the volume of water required for production and to compare different products. The final aim of the work is, in fact, to evaluate the WF of the production of edible insects with a focus on water consumption associated with protein content, in order to make a comparison with other animal protein sources. We have demonstrated that, from a freshwater resource perspective, it is more efficient to obtain protein through mealworms rather than other traditional farmed animals.

According to W.S. Jevons, the efficiency of a resource use tends to increase, rather than decrease, its consumption rate. This is particular true in the thermo-economics processes. In this note, the authors try to apply this proposition to explain the global trend of progressive impoverishment of the soil, especially in the western societies, and the rise of many environmental problems due to a high-inputs agriculture and to poor impact assessment and participatory methods. In fact, even a “technologically optimistic” scenario, using, for example, Georgesçu-Roegen’s Promethean technologies (such as, in a more modern view, genetic engineering, biotechnologies and renewable energy supplies), for enhancing a better use of agriculture resources and factors, could lead to an increment of productivity in the short period, but, at the same time, to unsustainable practices in the middle-long period (such as biodiversity decrement and natural flow inversion of biosphere evolution, a non-renewable resources depletion, alterations of hydro-geological cycles and microclimate modifications).

Water and land are essential elements for life that are becoming more and more threatened, hindering their availability for some. The development of measuring tools for water and land consumption is becoming increasingly important to guarantee their appropriate management. In this study, we compare and examine the contribution of some indicators to the environmental sustainability performance of countries. These indicators can play a number of roles in the sustainable policy process. In particular, environmental indicators can help illuminate issues by reducing complexity and diagnosing problems through the analysis of trends or correlations with other indicators, helping analysts discover patterns within and across units of analysis. The research proposes a multiple regression model to test and quantify the contribution of ecological and water footprints to the Environmental Performance Index. Given the results obtained from this study, we can affirm that, in the development of indices related to the environmental sustainability of countries, the weight of the water resource is not adequately considered. As well, the empirical result of the relation between the Environmental Performance Index and the Ecological footprint may appear unexpected because high Environmental Performance Index values for countries are related to high resources consumption.

Negli ultimi decenni, il settore agroalimentare è stato caratterizzato da profondi cambiamenti determinati, in special modo, dalla libera circolazione delle merci. Il processo di globalizzazione è stato reso possibile grazie anche alla contemporanea e rapida evoluzione dei sistemi di trasporto e conservazione dei prodotti alimentari, anche freschi (ortaggi e frutta in particolare), che ha favorito, unitamente alla de-localizzazione produttiva e allo sviluppo tecnologico dei metodi di coltivazione in ambiente confinato e controllato (serre), anche il fenomeno della de-stagionalizzazione, ovvero la disponibilità di "prodotti alimentari, soprattutto freschi, al di fuori dei periodi tipici di produzione e commercializzazione. Parimenti si è andato affermando sempre più il concetto di "food miles" o "chilometro alimentare", concetto che prende in considerazione la quantità di strada percorsa da un prodotto alimentare prima cli essere consumato. Tuttavia, considerando che non tutti i tipi di trasporto sono equivalenti, una semplice considerazione della distanza che un alimento percorre durante la sua vita non fornisce una indicazione precisa del suo impatto ambientale complessivo e non incide necessariamente sulle sue caratteristiche qualitative e nutrizionali. Occorre, quindi, far uso di strumenti più completi, come "Carbon footprint" e LCA, e rivedere l'attuale organizzazione e struttura del sistema agroalimentare nazionale e, soprattutto, comunitario dal punto di vista del suo impatto sull'ambiente, anche alla luce della prossima approvazione della PAC nel 2013.