EU Parliament reaffirms international shipping target to cut CO2

The European Parliament reaffirmed its goal towards safer and more environmentally friendly shipping today as it continues discussions on reducing CO2 emissions throughout the region.


EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas and the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Koji Sekimizu met today in Brussels to focus on the measures required to reduce CO2 emissions from international shipping.

Kallas stressed his, and Commissioner Connie Hedegaard’s, full engagement in the IMO work to develop new measures to further improve the efficiency and reduce emissions.

Announcing today’s outcome, the EU Parliament said in a statement that the upcoming IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting will be an important step towards achieving its goal and must finalise discussions on capacity building, technological cooperation and technology transfer.

It also said the meeting must make decisions to allow a move towards collecting and verifying data on shipping emissions, as well as defining a clear way forward for the development of additional efficiency measures.

The Commission aims to see the next MEPC dedicated to the development of a system for the collection and verification of data on fuel consumption and associated emissions.

In March, a report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) found that air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping sector have increased substantially in the last two decades.

The report suggests that the shipping sector needs an integrated monitoring, reporting and verification system for emissions in European waters to systematically address both types of emissions together.

Leigh Stringer

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