EU prepared to act if IMO delays action

The ?working relationship? between the European Commission and the IMO was reinforced at the end of last week with a top-level meeting, but fast action will be required at the IMO to prevent Europe from acting alone on ship emissions.

Ship emissions was one of four items on the agenda when Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Transport, visited the IMO Secretary-General, Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, at IMO headquarters in London recently.

The scope of the meeting, the fourth of its kind, was co-operation between the two sides in promoting maritime safety and security and environmental protection. Mitropoulos briefed Barrot on work progressing within the IMO towards having amendments to MARPOL Annex VI (Prevention of air pollution from ships) approved by the forthcoming session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) which takes place between March 31 and April 4, and then adopted at the MEPC’s session in October.

During a Green Ship Technology conference in Rotterdam last week, Hans Meijer, clean air policy officer in the Environment Directorate-General of the EC, told delegates that the EU would be ready to present proposals on air pollution caused by ships if the IMO failed to reach an agreement. “The EU supports shipping because it’s cheap, reliable and reduces road traffic,” Meijer was quoted saying, but he pointed out that ships would be responsible for half of Europe’s air pollution by 2020 if no measures were taken.

He indicated that while the EU broadly supported IMO efforts to reduce harmful shipping emissions, there were concerns at the scale of the task facing the MEPC, which has to decide between several different options for reducing sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) from ships.

Meijer warned that the EU would be ready to act alone on SOx emissions next year if the MEPC failed to make a firm decision this year. He also expressed doubts about the IMO’s progress on addressing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from ships, pointing out that the process could take “six or seven years, which would not be acceptable.” According to reports, he suggested that a revision to Annex VI on CO2 might establish a logical link with the United Nations conference in Copenhagen at the end of 2009, where a replacement for the Kyoto protocol is due to be signed with effect from 2012.

During Friday’s meeting, Mitropoulos also briefed Barrot on the IMO’s work towards implementing the Action Plan on Greenhouse Gas Emissions. He said the IMO could possibly bring forward some deadlines to expedite the Organization’ contribution to worldwide efforts in preparation for the December 2009 UN conference in Copenhagen.

According to an IMO statement, Barrot highlighted EU efforts in actively supporting the IMO work on global rules for ship emissions. Barrot noted the complexity of the topic and the tight timetable, and said he welcomed all efforts to deliver the expected results in time within the common efforts to combat climate change.

Shipping has been under pressure for several years to reduce its contribution to air pollution; SOx, NOx and PM, which are harmful to human health. As a global industry, shipping companies want a global regime under the auspices of the IMO, but slow progress there has seen the EU and California on the US West Coast implement their own regional rules on sulphur content.

The EU is already looking at its own mandatory policy options for limiting shipping’s CO2 emissions should the IMO fail to deliver firm and timely measures. EU measures under consideration include bringing shipping into emissions trading schemes, variable harbour dues based on greenhouse gas emissions and binding CO2 index limits for ships visiting EU ports.