Could this be the breakthrough in tackling shipping’s climate impact?

Shipping could become the first industry to have a global carbon dioxide reduction measure. A legislative process has been set in motion at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) which, if approved, could see obligatory energy efficiency standards for new ships come into effect in 2013. A vote is expected at the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) in July.
The energy efficiency rules would come in the form of a CO2 standard for new ships, the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) and the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP). The EEDI, which has been trialled over the last two years, is a standard that sets energy efficiency targets for ships that will be progressively tightened while leaving designers and builders the freedom to choose the most cost-efficient technology to use. The SEEMP, currently being applied by some ships but only on a voluntary basis, is a mechanism for a shipping company or ship to improve the energy efficiency of ship operations.
A series of moves within the IMO, aimed at influencing positively this month’s climate change summit in Cancún, have turned a slow process into the potential for the first standard promoting energy efficiency – and thereby greenhouse gas emissions reductions – to apply to any industry across the world.
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Source: Transport and Environment (T&E)