IMO’S SECRETARY GENERAL “CONCERNED” THAT INCLUDING SHIPPING IN EU-ETS WOULD SERIOUSLY IMPACT IMO’S WORK ON GHG REDUCTION
February 20, 2017
On January 9, 2017, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Kitack Lim sent a letter to Martin Schulz (President of the European Parliament), Jean-Claude Juncker (President of the European Commission) and Donald Tusk (President of the European Council) expressing his concern that “a final decision to extend the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS) to shipping emissions would not only be premature but would seriously impact on the work of IMO to address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping.”
On December 16, 2016, and to meet commitments under the Paris Agreement (ratified on October 5, 2016), the European Parliament’s Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee proposed a new “Effort Sharing Regulation” or “Climate Action Regulation implementing the Paris Agreement” that will cover sectors outside of the scope of the EU-ETS, including transport, agriculture, and emissions from international shipping This approach by EU-ETS has the potential to be at odds with some of the IMO’s goals in the same area. The IMO is the specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for “safe and secure shipping and preventing marine and atmospheric pollution from ships.”
This Effort Sharing Regulation stems from a 2013 strategy set out by the European Commission to progressively integrate maritime emissions into the EU’s policy for reducing its GHG emissions. The strategy consists of 3 consecutive steps:
Step 1: Monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of CO2 emissions from large ships using EU ports – In 2013, the EU adopted MRV Shipping Regulation requiring large ships (over 5000 gross tones) at European Economic Area ports to monitor their CO2 emissions. It set out a compliance schedule as follows:
- By August 30, 2017 submit to an accredited MRV shipping verifier a Monitoring Plan;
- From January 1, 2018, monitor and report to an accredited MRV shipping verifier, data on each ships’ CO2, fuel consumption and other parameters, so as to determine the ships’ average energy efficiency;
- From 2019, by April 30 of each year submit electronically to the Commission satisfactorily verified Emissions report for each of the ships concerned;
- From 2019, by June 30 of each year ensure that, all ships having performed activities in the precedent reporting period and visiting EU ports, carry on board a document of compliance issued by an accredited MRV shipping verifier.
Step 2: Greenhouse gas reduction targets for the maritime transport sector.
Step 3: Further measures, including market-based measures, in the medium to long term.
The Paris Agreement – which does not make reference to emissions from international shipping, sets out the goal to keep global temperature increase below two degrees Celsius, and to strive for no more than a 1, 5 degrees Celsius temperature increase. The Paris Agreement also requires that net-zero emissions must be achieved in the second half of this century (2050).
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6622) or Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6665).
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