IMO under pressure to act on emissions

There is a new warning that the IMO must act quickly to find consensus of ways of reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. “The EU (European Union) is putting pressure on the IMO. They want them to do a lot more,” said Christopher Frisk, head of Brussels representation for the Swedish Shipowners Association, in remarks quoted by the Dow Jones news service. “They have said this for quite some time now: if you don’t get somewhere this year, then we will act, like it or not.”

The IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) is meeting in London next month and part of its agenda is to consider ways of measuring and reducing CO2 emissions from ships. But observers say that several issues will need to be resolved before the IMO can act. One is whether any emissions reduction proposals will apply to all countries or whether developing nations will be exempt.

Some developing countries, led by China, India and Saudi Arabia, want the exemption they hold from mandatory carbon caps in the UN climate change treaty to apply to ships registered in their countries. About 80% of the international fleet is currently flagged in developing countries.

But the IMO secretary-general Efthimios Mitropoulos has already indicated his opposition. “It seems completely incongruous that two ships, carrying similar cargo, loaded in the same port, sailing at the same speed and having the same destination, should be treated differently because they are registered under two different flags,” he said in a speech last month. The United States also opposes any exemptions saying they would encourage shipowners to register in unregulated countries, undermining the goal of reducing emissions. The MEPC meeting in October is expected to approve reduction mechanisms developed by an IMO meeting in June, including market-based measures.