The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is meeting in London this week to discuss the introduction of market-based measures for curbing greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping.

The organisation’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) will consider a number of proposals for market-based measures, including a levy on all CO₂ emissions from international shipping or only on vessels that fail to meet energy efficiency requirements, an emissions trading system and a scheme based on the operational and design efficiency of ships.

The Committee will also look at proposals for implementing new guidelines on the energy efficiency of ships, which was agreed last summer.

Also on the agenda for discussion are new guidelines for the safe and environmentally friendly recycling of ships.

The United Nation’s agency for the marine industry has been slow in responding to international pressure to curb emissions, and the European Commission is still threatening to take matters into its own hands.

For further information:
www.imo.org

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