ECSA: MEPs' 2016 Climate Deadline for IMO is Unrealistic

Patrick Verhoeven ECSA Secretary General says the organisation is "concerned by the deadline adopted by MEPs."

The European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA) says that a call by the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) for the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to develop a global emissions reduction framework by the end of 2016 is "unrealistic."

"We are happy to see that the European Parliament recognises the importance of a global solution for international shipping and gives a vote of confidence to the IMO, which should be allowed to pursue its efforts," said Patrick Verhoeven, Secretary General, ECSA.

"2016 is right around the corner and as such it is rather unrealistic to expect the IMO to come up with a solution in a matter of months."

Verhoeven says the industry has already been taking steps to improve its energy efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions, and warned that a unilateral European push for a hard deadline may actually be counterproductive.

"Things have started to move in the right direction and it would be regrettable to reverse the progress achieved so far by jumping the gun," he said.

ECSA notes that the latest IMO Green House Gas study shows that international shipping produces about 2.2 percent of the world's total CO2 emissions, down from 2.8 percent in 2007, even with continuing growth within the maritime sector.

"The course of action that has been agreed is to start with an accurate picture of the shipping industry's CO2 emissions in 2018 (i.e. two years after the MEP-backed deadline)," said Benoit Loicq, the ECSA's Safety and Environment Director.

"If we now backtrack and skip the data collection phase altogether, how would it be possible to set realistic and fair targets?

"A global CO2 monitoring and reporting instrument is already being developed in IMO and we believe it is essential to encourage alignment of the EU MRV Regulation with the IMO tool."

In September, IMO Secretary-General, Koji Sekimizu, urged world leaders to decide against the idea of an overall emissions cap for the shipping industry ahead of global climate deal talks to be held in Paris at the end of the year.