IMO takes further action to cut ship emissions

THE Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the UN's International Maritime Organisation (IMO) plans to circulate a package of interim and voluntary technical and operational measures to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) from international shipping.

The MEPC has also agreed to circulate a work plan for further consideration of market-based instruments to provide incentives for the shipping industry, after holding its 59th session from July 13 to 17 at the IMO Headquarters in London.

An IMO statement said these measures are intended to be used for trial purposes until the Committee's sixtieth session (MEPC 60) in March 2010, when they will be refined, as necessary, with a view to facilitating decisions on their scope of application and enactment.

The measures include interim guidelines on the method of calculation, and voluntary verification, of the Energy Efficiency Design Index for new ships, which is intended to stimulate innovation and technical development of all the elements influencing the energy efficiency of a ship from its design phase.

The measures also provide guidance for the development of a Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan for new and existing ships, which incorporates best practices for the fuel efficient operation of ships; as well as guidelines for voluntary use of the Ship Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator for new and existing ships, which enables operators to measure the fuel efficiency of a ship.

The outcome of the MEPC on greenhouse gas emissions from ships will be reported to the Climate Change Conference (COP 15) that the United Nations will convene in Copenhagen in December 2009, which will consider a successor instrument to the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC.

(Source: http://www.schednet.com)