Carbon Emissions
Source: Data provided by Network for Transport and the Environment
Maritime shipping is the world's most carbon-efficient form of transporting goods - far more efficient than road or air transport. Yet, the industry seeks to further improve the fuel efficiency and carbon footprint of its vessels. Today's container ships and vehicle carriers enable the movement of tremendous volumes of goods across the world, which has fueled global economic growth in a manner considered implausible only 50 or 60 years ago.
The World Shipping Council (WSC) and its members are engaged in numerous efforts to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) and improve efficiency, and have actively supported development of a global, legally-binding agreement addressing CO2 emissions from ships through the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Liner Shipping and Carbon Emissions Policy
Governments, industries and consumers around the world are responding to concerns about the effects of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions on climate change by determining how to design more efficient energy and environmental practices and regulatory regimes. Developing such regimes is difficult. It is not difficult because the shipping industry opposes it. It is difficult for a variety of reasons, including: political differences between governments on how the resulting economic burdens should be allocated; the fact that the vast majority of ships' emissions occur outside the territory of any government; the absence of effective precedent - no transportation mode has a comprehensive carbon emission regime that can simply be borrowed and applied; and it is difficult because there are very different approaches under discussion with additional proposals likely to emerge.
This effort has led to a numberof proposals, often referred to as "market-based measures" or MBMs, that include proposals to establish a carbon tax on marine fuels, to create an emission trading regime applicable to shipping, and efficiency-based systems. The WSC and its members have argued that the most effective means to addressing carbon emissions from shipping is to improve the fuel efficiency and carbon footprint of ships themselves. This contrasts with some proposals that seek to generate large sums of money from shipping that would, in theory, purchase carbon "offsets" and fund other activities in other land-based sectors. It is improbable that such a strategy would be successful in achieving real reductions. Any international carbon regime for shipping should result in the sector being more carbon efficient, not just more expensive to operate.
Advancing the Discussion at the International Maritime Organization
In January 2010, WSC made two submissions to the IMO to inform this debate in its early stages: 1) a proposal for a new international Vessel Efficiency System (VES) to be used for the management of CO2 emissions and 2) a paper discussing emissions policy for maritime shipping. At the same time, the World Shipping Council prepared a paper to explain the various issues and the work of the liner shipping industry to address them. (Alternatively, view or download a presentation that summarizes key elements of the paper. Note this presentation is a PDF file. To view as an on-screen presentation, select View, View Full Screen Mode.)
In an effort to advance the discussion at the IMO on the difficult issues presented by the development of a new regime addressing carbon emissions, the World Shipping Council and the Government of Japan in February 2011submitted to the IMO a joint proposal to establish a new, legally-binding agreement, which would require new and existing ships to meet stringent, but realistic efficiency standards. These standards would increase in stringency over time and would result in a global fleet that is significantly more efficient and carbon-friendly than today's ships. This proposal is called the Vessel Efficiency Incentive Scheme (EIS) and is a further refinement of the previous proposal that had been submitted by WSC to the IMO in January 2010.
In July 2011, WSC and Japan's Ministry of Land Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism issued a paper entitled "Design and Implementation of the Vessel Efficiency Incentive Scheme (EIS)" providing a further explanation of how this innovative carbon emission reduction proposal would work, and why it offers effciency, cost and environmental advantages when compared to other proposals. View or download the paper in letter size or view or download in A4 size.
Frequently Asked Questions about Carbon Emissions and Shipping
Q: Why is the liner shipping industry so important economically?
Q: Why is the shipping industry so important environmentally?
Q: How much carbon dioxide does the international shipping industry emit per year?
Q: What is the expected trend in carbon dioxide emissions from the shipping industry?
Q: What are the potential methods of reducing carbon emissions from marine shipping?
Q: What efforts are being made by the industry to reduce its carbon footprint?
Q: What incentives currently exist for the industry to lower fuel use and carbon emissions?
