European Commission proposal d to act on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions from ships
In December 2010, Parties of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC) recognized that global warming must not exceed the temperatures experiencedbefore the industrial revolution by more than 2˚ C. This is vital if the negative consequencesof human interference with the climate system are to be limited.
This long-term goal requiresglobal greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced by at least 50% below 1990 levels by 2050.Developed countries should reduce their emissions by 80 to 95% by 2050 compared to 1990levels. In the medium term, the EU has committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by20% below 1990 levels by 2020, and by 30% if conditions are right. This commitment formspart of one of the EU’s five headline targets in the Europe 2020 Strategy.
Additionally, boththe European Council and the European Parliament have agreed that all sectors of theeconomy should contribute to reducing emissions5.In the view of contributing to the EU 2020Strategy, the 2011 Commission White Paper on Transport6states that EU CO2 emissions frommaritime transport should be reduced by 40% (if feasible 50%) from 2005 levels by 2050.
In 2010 the total CO2 emissions related to European maritime transport activities (includingintra EU routes, incoming voyages to the EU and outgoing voyages from the EU) wereestimated to be of the order of 180 Mt CO2. Despite of the introduction of minimum energyefficiency standards for certain categories of new ships (“Energy Efficiency Design Index”,EEDI) by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in 20117, the emissions are expectedto increase.
Main driver is the still expected increased demand for maritime transporttriggered by growth of world trade.This projected growth is expected to happen despite the availibility of operational measuresand existing technologies to reduce the specific energy consumption and CO2 emissions ofships by up to 75% (according to IMO figures).
A significant part of these measures can beregarded as cost-effective as the reduced fuel costs ensure the pay-back of any operational orinvestment costs.
This contradiction can be explained by the existence of market barriers forthe uptake of such technologies and operational measures such as the lack of reliableinformation on fuel efficiency of ships or of technologies for retrofitting ships, lack of accessto finance for investments into ship efficiency and split incentives as ship owners would notbenefit from their investments into ship efficiency as fuel bills are paid by operators.
For more information read European Commission’s Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the the Council on the monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon dioxide emissions from maritime transport and amending regulation (EU) No 525/2013
