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The European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA) - the trade association representing the European shipping sector - has said that the global shipping industry is unlikely to meet an EU deadline for developing a plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

The European Parliament last week called on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to present measures to reduce emissions by the end of 2016. The move is part of an EU pledge to reduce 1990-level greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030.

Commenting on the resolution, Patrick Verhoeven [pictured], ECSA Secretary General, said: "We are happy to see that the European Parliament recognises the importance of a global solution for international shipping and gives a vote of confidence to the IMO, which should be allowed to pursue its efforts.

"We are however also concerned by the deadline adopted by MEPs on Wednesday. 2016 is right around the corner and as such it is rather unrealistic to expect the IMO to come up with a solution in a matter of months. A unilateral European push for a hard deadline may be counterproductive," added Verhoeven, referring to the need for global rules for shipping.

Defending the IMO's track record, the ECSA pointed out that, following the adoption of the amendments to MARPOL Annex VI, which came into force worldwide in 2011 and which now apply to about 95 percent of the global merchant fleet, international shipping is the only industrial sector already covered by mandatory and binding global measures.

The IMO also recently adopted the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), which requires all ships constructed after 2025 to be 30 percent more efficient than those built in the 2000s, with further efficiency improvements going forward.

The ECSA referred also to the latest IMO Greenhouse Gas Study, published in 2014, which said that international shipping (while transporting about 90 percent of world trade) produces about 2.2 percent of the world's total CO2 emissions. This figure was 2.8 percent in 2007, and the total CO2 emissions from shipping reduced by over 10 percent between 2007 and 2012. This was despite continuing growth in maritime trade.

Benoit Loicq, ECSA Safety and Environment Director, commented: "The 2016 deadline is not consistent with the steps already taken at EU level. By pushing for an extremely tight deadline, the EU would essentially undermine the IMO procedure. If the EU would then focus on regional measures, it would be backtracking on its own policy.

"The course of action that has been agreed is to start with an accurate picture of the shipping industry's CO2 emissions in 2018 (i.e. two years after the MEP-backed deadline). If we now backtrack and skip the data collection phase altogether, how would it be possible to set realistic and fair targets?" asked Benoit Loicq. "A global CO2 monitoring and reporting instrument is already being developed in IMO and we believe it is essential to encourage alignment of the EU MRV Regulation with the IMO tool," he added.

"Despite being inconspicuous, by transporting 90 percent of the world's goods, shipping is as essential to global trade as it is vital to our daily lives. Things have started to move in the right direction and it would be regrettable to reverse the progress achieved so far by jumping the gun," concluded Verhoeven.