Shipping Industry To Feel Heat Over CO2 Emissions
Date: 10-Jul-09
Country: UK/BELGIUM
Author: Jonathan Saul and Pete Harrison - Analysis
LONDON/BRUSSELS - Failure by the U.N.'s shipping agency to come up with bold enough proposals to address carbon emissions by the industry could compel the European Union to impose solutions directly.
Delegates from nearly 100 member state countries will convene in London next week for a meeting of the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) marine environment protection committee. Formulating a position on cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is set to top the agenda.
Shipping and aviation are the only industry sectors not regulated under the Kyoto Protocol, which sets targets for greenhouse gas emissions by rich countries from 2008-12.
Shipping accounts for nearly three percent of global CO2 emissions and pressure is growing for cuts ahead of a crucial climate change summit in Copenhagen in December.
France called last month for a decision in Copenhagen on curbs to ship emissions, but stopped short of stating figures.
"The IMO is drinking in the last chance saloon. This is the last opportunity to put some formed proposals on the table," said Colin Whybrow with Greenwave, a UK-registered charity seeking CO2 cuts by the shipping sector.
"The European Commission has already made statements that if the IMO does not act it will."
Some analysts argue the IMO has been slow to come up with a mechanism to curb CO2 due to differences between member nations.
"There is real dissent between the developed versus non developed countries. It's a political forum typical of a UN agency," said British-based shipping consultant Robin Meech.
Proposals to be presented next week include an energy efficiency index for new ships to ensure new vessel designs are environmentally friendly.
Peter Hinchliffe, marine director with the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) which represents 75 percent of the global industry, said he expected a "roadmap" would be reached.
"I am absolutely confident that we are going to end up with a useful solution and something which is going to be powerful enough for the (IMO's) secretary general to sell to UNFCCC," he said referring to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.
But there are worries of opposition from countries such as China and India.
The Group of Eight powers agreed Wednesday to try to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius and cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent, but failed to persuade China and India to join in a bid to halve world emissions by 2050.
"Some countries may think if they go along with legally binding instruments they risk weakening their negotiation platform for Copenhagen," said a senior delegate attending next week's meeting.
COMBATING EMISSIONS
A study commissioned by the IMO to be presented at the session estimated that international shipping contributed 870 million tons or about 2.7 percent of global CO2 emissions in 2007. In the absence of reduction policies, ship emissions could grow by 150 to 250 percent by 2050, it added.
The study said if technical and operational measures were adopted -- including speed reductions, upgrades to engines and hulls -- then emissions could be cut by 25 to 75 percent.
"Costs can all be passed through to consumers, and various studies suggest it would be a few cents per shipping container or a tiny fraction of a barrel of oil," said Bill Hemmings at environment group T&E.
"The costs are relatively low, and there are no real reasons standing in the way," he added.
Meech, who is also an energy consultant, said existing ships could increase their efficiency by 10 percent through retrofitting different technologies, while those being designed now could probably have their emissions cut by 30 percent.
"But...there are orders for hundreds of vessels and they are not going to be changed partly because the yards will only introduce new designs at a very high cost," he said.
"The industry is in a situation now where it does not have the money as available as three years ago to make vessels on order more compliant with emissions."
Shipping industry officials have accepted some kind of market based mechanism is needed and argue that given shipping's global nature any solution must be directed by the IMO.
But analysts say the European Union has become used to taking the lead to deal with IMO's slow progress, just as it did in 2000 when the IMO failed to agree measures to rule out the risk of oil spills from single-hulled oil tankers.
The Commission would prefer to tackle shipping emissions by including the sector in its Emissions Trading Scheme, as it has done with aviation, but it has not ruled out other mechanisms such as taxing fuel oil or imposing levies at EU ports.
Shipping officials fear a go-it-alone regional approach could disrupt the efficiency of the industry.
"What will cause the most difficulty is if it's not done on a global basis because that will unbalance the market. That's why what Europe is talking about is a somewhat unrealistic solution," said the ICS's Hinchliffe.
(Editing by Keiron Henderson)
