Brussels, 18/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - The agreement reached by the Marine Environment Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to tackle CO2 emissions from ships at has been welcomed by the European Commission as a promising step forward for the climate.
The new Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) adopted on Friday 15 July by the IMO, and which will be compulsory from 2015, lays down standards to improve the energy efficiency of certain categories of new ships, estimated to bring the CO2emissions of these ships down by around 25% to 30% between now and 2030 compared to a Business As Usual (BAU) scenario.
Vice-President Siim Kallas, who is responsible for the transport portfolio, immediately welcomed the announcement. “This is a very important signal that the maritime community is taking seriously its role in global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions”, he states in a press release. He goes on to thank the member states of the EU for their contribution to this result and the international partners for having helped in “finding global solutions to global problems”.
Pleased in a more understated way, given the fact that there remains much to be done to make a success of international climate negotiations, European Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard described the move as “a very positive and important first step for a truly global, binding measure to reduce CO2 emissions”. The commissioner, who is pleased that this agreement covers new ships and a large segment of the global commercial fleet, hopes that “this momentum will help the ongoing debate on further reducing emissions from international maritime transport”. (A.N./transl.fl)