Carbon Emissions

Source: Data provided by Network for Transport and the Environment

The World Shipping Council (WSC) and its members are engaged in numerous efforts to reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) and improve efficiency, and are working to secure a global agreement addressing CO₂ emissions from ships through the International Maritime Organization (IMO). In January 2010, WSC made two submissions to the IMO to inform this debate: 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.

The Liner Shipping Industry 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.

The World Shipping Council has prepared a paper to explain the various issues and the work of the liner shipping industry to address them. Read or download the paper.
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.)