The need to act remains

To say the final outcome of the COP15 meeting in Copenhagen was a disappointment for the shipping industry is something of an understatement. SEAaT’s members were fervently hoping for clear guidance, on what was expected of the shipping industry, to be an outcome of CoP15.

The final 'agreement', brokered by the US and China at the last minute, provided little direction to the IMO. And as if we didn’t know already, scientists informed us that if we are to have a reasonable chance of avoiding dangerous influence on the climate, then global greenhouse gas emissions must peak in the next few years and then decline rapidly.

"We will study carefully the text that emerged from COP 15 to see what, if any, repercussions it may have on shipping and our work," IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos was quoted as saying after the talks.

For SEAaT and supporters of an emissions trading scheme (ETS) for shipping, emission targets remain undefined, policy instruments for shipping are undecided, and it is still unclear who might be responsible for implementing any emissions agreement. Happily though, there appeared to be widespread support for the IMO to oversee any future regulation.

It means the IMO is now analysing and trying to interpret its best course of action, although the delegates forming IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) member states will have little, if any, political mandate. Nevertheless, the next MEPC meeting in March 2010 has an opportunity to succeed where COP15 failed.  

SEAaT believes an ETS for shipping is not only good for the environment as it facilitates definitive emissions reduction; it provides a viable economic and commercial framework within which to operate. It has the potential to help the ailing shipbuilding industry, as shipowners and operators look to engage the yards to develop and perhaps retrofit technologies such as air lubrication, improved hull coatings, sail power of various guises, solar and novel propulsion systems. Moreover, the entire shipping supply chain can be improved through innovative concepts such as the adoption of slower steaming, weather routing, and charter party agreements that put the onus on efficiency and not just speed of delivery.

As fuel prices look set to continue to rise, so the costs of ship operation will increase. The IMO GHG study 2009 highlights that  significant efficiencies can be made with respect to the current ocean going fleet. SEAaT believes that market based instruments (MBIs) in general and an ETS in particular are required to incentivise those energy efficiencies in the shipping industry.

It must not be forgotten that the whole point of what we are doing is to reduce carbon emissions, and while significant progress was made during the first week of COP 15 to ensure that shipping and the IMO were included in a macro inter-governmental binding agreement, by week two it was clear that agreement was never going to be forthcoming.

Nils Andersen, CEO of AP Moller Maersk, spoke for the shipping industry when he commented during COP 15 that remaining competitive was a key criterion for the success of shipping. He added that he wanted to see any legislative changes from Copenhagen or the IMO to be evenly applied across the industry and not to distort competition.

The industry understands change is needed and is happy to accept fair and rational regulation. Whether this can be achieved within the environment of MEPC remains as unclear as ever. With science now suggesting that we are fast approaching conditions where irreversible changes may occur, lack of clarity is not what the planet needs. All must be in no doubt that the need to reduce GHGs from shipping still remains.