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The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) says it "welcomes" what it describes as "progress made" by the IMO Marine Environment Committee (MEPC) this week (18-22 April) towards the adoption of a global carbon dioxide (CO2) data collection system.

Once the amendment to the MARPOL Convention enters into force, all ships over 5,000 gross tonnage (GT) will be required to provide information on CO2 emissions via their flag states.

ICS says that once the system is adopted, IMO Member States will be in a better position to consider the development of additional CO2 reduction measures and respond to the Paris Agreement on climate change.

"Most of the details have been agreed, including the important fact that CO2 reporting will be mandatory. We are confident that the IMO system will be fully adopted at the next MEPC meeting in October," said ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe. "We believe that IMO Member States have agreed an acceptable compromise between governments primarily interested in data on fuel consumption and CO2 and those that wish to collect additional information, for example on so called transport work."

Speaking at IMO's headquarters in London, Hinchliffe added: "The priority now is to persuade the European Union to adjust its unilateral regulation on the reporting and verification of individual ship emissions to make it compatible with what has now been agreed at IMO. While this may be an uphill struggle, we have been encouraged by the constructive attitude taken by EU Member States this week, as well as those other nations that initially had concerns about the decision to make the IMO system mandatory."

CO2 Reduction Commitments

In a separate submission to the MEPC meeting, ICS responded to the Paris Agreement on climate change with a proposal that IMO should develop an Intended IMO Determined Contribution for CO2 reduction on behalf of the sector. This would mirror the commitments or Intended National Determined Contributions (INDCs) which governments have made for their national economies, but from which international transport is currently excluded.

ICS says its proposal was "well received" by a number of IMO member states and will be taken forward to the October meeting with other submissions made by governments and others with respect to how IMO should respond to the Paris Agreement.