EMEA News
Shippers Speak Out Against EU Monitoring Regulations
Proposed European Union (EU) regulations on the monitoring, reporting, and verification of ships' carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions present challenges for the industry, the World Shipping Council (WSC) said in a letter to European Commission (EC) MEP Theodoros Skylakakis.
The WSC, which represents the liner shipping sector, writes that regulations on air emissions would be better handled by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), "rather than a patch work of national or regional regimes."
The group also argues that both EU and IMO discussions fail to assess the effects on fuel cost and emission reduction of existing measures.
"We also remain concerned that there is a lack of clarity about what the specific objectives are for further regulatory efforts, because rationales for further regulatory proposals appear to range from more accurately assessing the industry's actual emissions, to developing some kind of vessel operational efficiency standards, to establishing a fuel levy or emissions trading system priced with a specific industry emission reduction target in mind," the WSC writes.
If the EU does move forward with emissions monitoring rules, the WSC argues that it should not expand them to include nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOX), or other types of emissions since existing IMO rules address those pollutants.
The EC's proposal for emissions monitoring and reporting, released in June, was dismissed as "timid" by some environmentalists, but industry groups including the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) have argued against it, saying that regional rules are likely to lead to conflicts among different regulatory schemes.
