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At an International Maritime Organization meeting, delegates from around 90 countries have agreed to non-compulsory measures, including an energy efficiency design index for new ships to ensure new vessel designs are environmentally friendly, as well as an index for existing vessels, Reuters reports.
Shipping accounts for nearly three percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. Along with aviation, it is the only industry sector not regulated under the Kyoto Protocol, which sets targets for greenhouse gas emissions from rich countries.
The recently agreed proposals are an important step says Peter Hinchliffe, Marine Director with the International Chamber of Shipping which represents 75 percent of the global industry. According to Reuters, he adds that shippers want the proposals to be mandatory as soon as possible.
Exactly what Peter Lockley, Head of Transport Policy with environmental group WWF-UK wants.
“This does not meet our demands or what is necessary to protect the climate and we are going to call on the UNFCCC to set targets and timelines and guiding principles,” Lockley says according to Reuters.
But targets may be difficult to set at the moment.
“For some delegations it is very, very delicate to apply legal effects in advance of COP 15 (this year’s UN climate conference in Copenhagen),” Christian Breinholt, director of the Danish Maritime Authority and part of the Danish delegation tells Reuters.
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