The member national shipowners’ associations of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) have agreed to commence a co-ordinated campaign aimed at European Union (EU) institutions to persuade the EU to align its regulation on shipping’s CO2 emissions monitoring with the mandatory worldwide CO2 reporting regime that has been agreed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The campaign, which is aimed at EU institutions including Member States, Parliament and the European Commission, will work closely with the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) and will enlist the support of non-EU governments including the United States, China and other Asian nations.
ICS believes that global rules are required in order to have a global playing field, and while ICS supports the mandatory IMO CO2 reporting scheme that was agreed to by Member States at the Marine Environment Protection Committee’s (MEPC) 69th session held in April, they also hope that it will act as a precursor to further measures to reduce CO2 emissions.
ICS now calls for the EU to align its regime with the IMO system in order to make sure that the EU livens up its side of the bargain to support the views of the international community in reducing emissions.
The EU Regulation on the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) of ships’ CO2 emissions was adopted in 2015 and will be fully implemented in three years’ time. But all ships trading to Europe, including non-EU flag ships, will be legally required to comply with some of its provisions by as early as 2017.
However, the EU Regulation contains a provision that means the European Commission can propose adjustments to ensure alignment with any similar regime adopted by IMO.
At the moment the regional verification mechanism being developed by the EU may not be compatible with the IMO regime and could result in it being unfit for purpose.
Newly elected ICS Chairman, Mr Esben Poulsson commented: “The key thing that really concerns the shipping industry is that if the EU refuses to realign its regime with IMO, as its own Regulation permits it to do, this will be perceived by other governments as a sign of bad faith, which could then potentially inhibit the consideration of any additional CO2 reduction measures by IMO.”
Mr Poulsson continued: “It’s worth reiterating, yet again, the industry’s strongly held view that as a global industry we need a global framework. Only IMO is equipped to provide this.”
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