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The board of directors of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) - the international trade association and employers' organisation for shipowners - met in London yesterday, February 5, to discuss key issues, including the best means of achieving further carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reduction from ships.

The ICS board reviewed recent developments with respect to the international regulation of CO2 emissions from ships. This included proposals by the United States, the European Commission, and others, concerning the establishment of a mandatory system of Monitoring, Reporting and Verification of emissions (known as ‘MRV’).

ICS Chairman, Masamichi Morooka [pictured], remarked: "Our meeting agreed that ICS will fully support the concept of MRV, provided that any measure adopted is developed and agreed at IMO, and that it will be simple to administer and primarily based on fuel consumption measured by bunker delivery notes."

"However," added Mr Morooka, "ICS support for the development of an MRV mechanism does not imply acceptance of MRV being used for the eventual development of any other Market Based Measure, or the mandatory application of energy indexing measures to existing ships."

The ICS said it is currently developing a detailed position on how MRV might work, but is waiting for formal submissions to be made by governments at the next meeting of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee in May.

The ICS said it was optimistic that "the United States will submit a paper to IMO that will address some (though not all) of the concerns previously raised by ICS in response to earlier US proposals made last year. In particular, it is hoped that the US will acknowledge the central role of bunker delivery notes, and that it will avoid any suggestion that expensive or impractical emission monitoring equipment should be installed on board ships (as has been suggested by some elements within the European Commission)."

The trade association added: "IMO has already adopted a comprehensive package of technical and operational measures to reduce CO2 emissions, and shipping is the only industry which already has CO2 reduction regulations in force at a global level. ICS therefore welcomes the recent announcement by the European Commission that if further measures are developed to address CO2 that this should be done globally inside the IMO."

Commenting on the issue of regional Market Based Measures (MBMs), the ICS said: "At their meeting, ICS members’ noted with satisfaction that, for the time being at least, it seems that the EU will give much less emphasis to developing its own Market Based Measure on a regional basis (including a mooted regional emissions trading scheme for ships) and that as an interim measure the EU instead wishes to focus on a global system of MRV."

Morooka commented: “This constructive stance now being taken by Europe is very positive. But with respect to MRV, we are still waiting to see if firm proposals will be made at IMO by the European Commission. At consultations we have attended in Brussels, some EU officials from the Climate Change Directorate still seem to be thinking in terms of a developing a regional measure first. In the absence of firm EU proposals being submitted to IMO it is difficult for industry to contribute to the MRV debate at European level meaningfully. This is something which ICS is very keen to do.”

The ICS added: "Notwithstanding ICS’s support for MRV, its priority remains to help ensure that the technical and operational measures adopted by IMO, which came into force in January 2013, are successfully implemented. This includes the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) and the mandatory use of Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plans (SEEMP). ICS believes that the further reduction in emissions that will be delivered by the SEEMP, which are now being utilised by tens of thousands of existing ships worldwide, should not be understated."