ICS: EU CO2 Rules Could Jeopardise Global Agreement

EU must proceed in "good faith," says Hinchcliffe

Shipowners' trade association the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has said it is "disappointed and concerned" at a move by the European Union (EU) to introduce regional rules on the collection of data on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from ships.

"The industry fully supports the development of a global data collection system by [the International Maritime Organization] IMO but the imminent adoption of a regional EU regime, which may not be compatible with whatever is agreed at IMO, will certainly complicate and perhaps jeopardise these delicate negotiations," said ICS.

All three law-making bodies of the EU - the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament and the European Commission - are said to have agreed a text for a new EU Regulation on the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) of CO2 emissions from ships.

Formal adoption of the Regulation, which under current plans would be directly applicable on all EU member states by 2018, is expected next year.

It is understood the new rules will apply to EU-flagged and non-EU ships alike and comes ahead of IMO negotiations on the matter.

ICS is concerned that EU rules will go further than will be acceptable to important players in the international community, such as China and India, "for whom additional CO2 regulations are a politically sensitive issue."

According to ICS, there is a suspicion that the EU move, which would include the collection of data on cargo carried by ships, constitutes a step towards the imposition of a mandatory operational efficiency index.

Some believe that such an index could lead to financial penalties from governments and cause market distortion, said ICS.

"If the negotiations at IMO are to succeed it will be incumbent on the EU Member States to explain that they are acting in good faith and that the outcome at IMO will be the product of a genuine global consensus achieved through negotiation rather than as a result of a pre-existing unilateral regional arrangement," said ICS's Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe.

The European Community Shipowners' Association (ECSA) recently said it had concerns over IMO plans for CO2 data collection.