Chapter 5. Organisations and commities

“There is currently no international regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from ships”

(IMO,MEPC 2013)

The European Commission announced on 1^st October 2012 that it intends to introduce an emissions monitoring system in early 2013, in a bid to curb the environmental footprint left by the shipping industry.

Shipping accounts for around 3% of the world's emissions of carbon dioxide and this share could go to 18% by 2050 if regulation is not in place, according to the International Maritime Organisation.²⁹

There is currently no international regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from ships. Despite years of efforts in the IMO and the United Nations' climate division, global measures have been limited.

The IMO agreed last year to introduce energy efficiency measures for the design of new ships EEDI (IMO’s Energy Efficiency Design Index), which will come into force in 2015. But Hedegaard and Kallas warned that the index alone “will not be enough to ensure shipping emissions are reduced fast enough” to meet the EU's 2020 targets.³⁰

An IMO report itself said that the index measures would only cut emissions by about 23% and that the sector's greenhouse gas levels could rise without further market-based measures.³¹

The EU Commission has threatened to enforce its own shipping regulations if the IMO fails to find a global solution, as it has with aviation. It said in a statement that it would outline “a simple, robust and globally feasible approach towards setting a system for monitoring, reporting and verification of emissions based on fuel consumption".³²

This was "the necessary starting point” for further action on greenhouse gas emissions, it said, flagging market-based mechanisms. These could include maritime emissions trading scheme (ETS) or bunker fuel levies.

Elina Bardram, the head of the EU climate department's international carbon markets unit, said that setting up a market-based emissions-reduction system could save €15 billion annually by 2030, and increase employment in the sector.³³

But there is intense opposition to such a move from other departments in the European Commission which are unhappy about the ongoing trade spat with China over bringing aviation emissions into the ETS.

“The shipping industry itself is best placed to take the lead in delivering fast and effective greenhouse gas emission reductions”, the EU statement said, adding “the Commission is ready to play its part, in the EU and at IMO level.''³⁴

On other hand, environmental groups were disappointed by the EU Commission's plan, saying monitoring did not address the main issue of reducing emissions from ships.

As in ETS, monitoring of shipping vessels will not reduce emissions from vessels and main issue of it will be again economical – to increase budgets and level of emissions will be increased same as it was with Kyoto Protocol.

Personal view – problem of reduction emissions

Summing up my Research Project, I realized that the main issue of reduction emissions is not a reduction, but is the ways to disappoint people with new regulations, new rules or even new markets, to invest money and in output of it don’t make anything.

How it is possible to reduce emissions by making Kyoto Protocol and leave main emitters outside of it?

Why Trading System became an arena of speculators and instead of reasonable help, it became a place of easy money earnings, while emission’s level growing up?

Finally, spending so much money for beautiful cars, yachts and penthouses, people avoid to invest their money to scientific researches or technology to find new fuel resources, or find the way how to use GHG emissions in industry, for example as raw material and on molecular level destroy them and in the same time create materials on output without any emission?

Answer is simple – every one cares only for his budget and needs.

Returning to Chapter 1, were clearly explain the problem of the environmental shipping impact: “There are several options, but at present most of them are not economically viable.“ And it will be always not economical, if people would not understand, than in future, when it will be too late to change something, paper, that called “money” will not safe them in front of planetary disaster.

Kyoto Protocol was poorly serviced and was not global, which makes mistake from beginning. Such implementation must be global and mandatory to every state and nation. In that way, reduction of emissions would be seen more clearly and if anyone is “cheating” – might be much easier to find who cheat and give penalties to that region.

“Cap and Trade” – in my view, it’s the main engine of increased level of emissions. This system shows again, that human thinks only how to became rich, making money from nothing in one hand, while emit double, triple times more every day in other hand and not afraid for penalties from Carbon Tax or any other Emission Inspection – “he is covered” from ETS.

However, there are and positive side from last 5 years of reduction emissions.

After all mistakes and misunderstandings, committees try to create new way of future emission reductions and I hope they will succeed.

In my view, if I had permission to be part of discussions, I would try to forget about achievement of economy-wide emissions reduction targets, and try to solve the problem once for ever. I don’t have great knowledge of a scientist, but I believe that there is the way to reduce emissions not only from vessels, by implementing new design, different fuel, reducing speed and etc., but globally too.

My solution of reducing emissions – is reducing our needs. We produce every day so many products, different products. In our current economic situation, when a lot of people don’t have work, or salary is equal to minimum level of live, it is irrelevant to produce more than people can buy. Most of the fast expired production will be lost. But this loss would be not only economical but also as increased volume of emissions that was produced during of producing product and transferring it from factory to final destination.

My idea is to freeze production and transportation goods for couple days or weeks, until minimum level in every warehouse and storage will reach (minimum level of goods for time needed until new production will come) and start to produce and transport goods only according to population recording list in each region. This will avoid oversupply of goods, stabilize prices, and emissions would reduce slowly.

It will win some time for scientific researches for new innovations in fuel, design, or something new, that is unknown yet. In the same time, returning to shipping industry, it would be good idea to increase quantity of labour force for new building, to reduce building time for ordered vessels with new technologies and systems of controlling emission level, which must be changed with old and high level emit ships.

Of course – this idea may not achieve economical way of savings, but might be a solution not only for reducing emission, but also economy stability after crisis.