[200711.EN.SEA] China Objects, But UN's IMO Votes For Stringent Eco-regime For All Ships

CONTAINERSHIPS must be built to high technical standards that will reduce carbon emissions under a measure approved by the UN's International Maritime Organisation, reports London's Financial Times.

But China, Brazil and developing countries objected and pressed for delays but the European Commission, the governing body of the EU, demanded even more stringent regulation and vowed more rules and taxes of its own.

"We are looking at the options on how the maritime sector can further contribute to the emissions reduction efforts," said an EU climate change spokesman. "Bringing shipping into the ETS [Emissions Trading Scheme tax] only one of the options."

As it stands, the commission has tabled a proposal before the European Parliament, subject to further ratification by EU member states, that would demand the maritime industry to cut sulphur dioxide emissions up to 90 per cent at a cost to the industry of up to US$15.6 billion, report's Newark's Journal of Commerce.

The commission calls for an 80 per cent reduction in fine particle emissions. Starting in 2015, the maximum permissible sulphur content in maritime fuels used in sensitive areas such as the Baltic Sea and the North Sea would drop from 1.5 per cent to 0.1 per cent.

Fuels used by ships today have sulphur content of up to five per cent. Sulphur dioxide emissions cause rain and generate fine dust, which causes human respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

The IMO measure would lower ships' carbon emissions by up to 30 per cent by 2030, the European Commission said, congratulating the United Nations shipping arm for what it said was the first globally binding measure to limit carbon, said the report.

Supposedly mandatory from 2015, this is reportedly the first measure on climate change to apply equally to countries regardless of whether they are from the industrial or developing world.

But in the face of Chinese and American opposition, the EU is said to be abandoning its airline carbon emissions trading scheme tax and has been counting on the IMO to devise new regulations for shipping as a first step before having the UN's International Civil Aviation Organisation pass a similar measures against aircraft.

The Chinese have suggested that pressing them on aircraft carbon emissions taxes might put European Airbus sales at risk and Americans are taking their objections to the European court, protesting the assumption that the EU has the right to tax emissions over the high seas beyond their own air space.

EU climate action commissioner Connie Hedegaard described the new maritime measure as "a very important first step for a truly global, binding measure to reduce CO2 emissions".

Said Peter Boyd, of the Carbon War Room environmental lobby: "These new standards could save more than US$50 billion a year in fuel and 220 million tons of CO2 if they were applied to all ships."

This is questioned by the industry because compliance with new IMO standards would be costly, and low-sulphur fuel is "very expensive".

Source : HKSG, 20.07.11.