Brussels, 22/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 22 April, the day on which the Paris Climate Accord was signed by 168 parties in New York, the International Maritime Organisation was laying the foundations in London of a compulsory data collection system for maritime CO2 emissions. The EU has hailed this move as a welcome first step (see EUROPE 11533).
Agreement was reached at the 69th session of the IMO's marine environment protection committee. The next meeting, in October, will formally adopt the amendment to the MARPOL Convention incorporating the data collection system and applying it to all vessels of more than 5,000 GT. Only then will further emissions reduction measures will be considered to help address the objectives of the Paris Accord.
MEP Jytte Guteland (S&D, Sweden), who led the European Parliament delegation in London, back in Brussels before the meeting ended, did not try to hide that she expected more. “I am convinced that it is well within the IMO's ability and responsibility to strengthen its work with emissions abatement. For this to happen, it is imperative to ensure that the EEDI (Energy Efficiency Design Index for ships) is tightened in order to provide the best possible incentives for technological developments” she said on Monday 21 April.
She said that, in her view, it is “crucial” that a global compulsory data collection system of maritime emissions is agreed this week, as a first step to a global system for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from shipping. “Such a development would show that the maritime transport sector acknowledges its responsibility in the common efforts to reduce global emissions. In order to be fit-for-purpose, the data collection scheme must be set up in a stringent, responsible and transparent way”, she stated.
Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA, Netherlands) said that he had no illusions about the scale of the progress that might be expected. “The energy efficiency index has existed for years. The problem is that phase 2 - that is, the 2020 target - has already been achieved by vessels”, he told the European press. He felt, nonetheless, that, if the IMO committee planned to begin work on reducing the sector's emissions at its next meeting, that would be “an interesting step because, two years ago, speaking about emissions reduction was taboo” at the IMO.
In Europe, the regulation putting in place a monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system for the maritime transport sector came into force in July 2015 and will be operational in 2018. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)