|
4 PREVENTION OF AIR POLLUTION FROM SHIPS
Entry into force of Annex VI
4.1 The Committee noted that, as of 29 March 2004, Annex VI of MARPOL 73/78 has been ratified by 13 States representing more than 54% of the gross tonnage of the world's merchant shipping and that ratification by only three more States would be required to satisfy the conditions for entry into force.
4.2 The Committee welcomed the statements made by Barbados, Cyprus, Japan and Poland that their national procedures for the ratification of the protocol of 1997 to MARPOL 73/78 have reached the final stage and that they would be able to deposit their instrument of ratification for Annex VI before the end of 2004. This would mean that the Annex might satisfy the entry into force conditions and would enter into force before the end of 2005.
Resolution A.963(23)
4.3 The Committee recalled that Assembly 23 by resolution A.963(23) adopted "IMO Policies and Practices related to the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ships", which established an official IMO policy on greenhouse gas emissions from ships.
Co-operation between the Secretariats of IMO and UNFCCC
4.4 The Committee recalled that the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technical Advice (SBSTA), at its eighteenth session, invited MEPC 49 to instruct the Secretariat to initiate an informal meeting of experts or workshop between the two Secretariats, with the participation of member experts of the Working Group on Air Pollution, before SBSTA 20, to be held in June 2004 in Bonn, Germany.
4.5 The Committee recalled that MEPC 49 urged Members to accept the invitation from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to participate in the revision of the "Revised 1996 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories".
4.6 The Committee noted the information by the Secretariat on the outcome of SBSTA 19 (1 to 9 December 2003, Milan, Italy). SBSTA 19 encouraged the ongoing exchange of information between the Secretariats of IMO and UNFCCC and invited IMO to report on the results of this session to SBSTA 20, to be held from 16 to 25 June 2004 in Bonn, Germany. The Committee instructed the Secretariat to attend SBSTA 20 and to provide information as invited.
4.7 The Committee noted that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is in the process of selecting authors for the revision of the revised 1996 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories and that emissions from water-borne navigation is one of the important sources to be considered. It therefore needs experienced and knowledgeable authors for the work to be done.
4.8 The Committee instructed the Working Group on Air Pollution to consider the issues and to make recommendations for consideration by the Committee on IMO nomination of authors.
Report by the intersessional correspondence group on greenhouse gas emissions from ships
4.9 The Committee recalled that MEPC 49 agreed to establish an intersessional correspondence group under the leadership of Norway and approved the terms of reference as set out in annex 8 of document MEPC 49/22.
4.10 Mr. Kjell Olav Skjølsvik (Norway), as the Co-ordinator, introduced the report of the correspondence group on greenhouse gas emissions from ships (MEPC 51/4). The Committee was also informed on the submission by Norway (MEPC 51/4/2) and the information by Germany (MEPC 51/INF.2).
4.11 In considering the report of the correspondence group (MEPC 51/4) the delegation of China supported by Brazil, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Singapore (with the exception of paragraph 4.11.4) and Saudi Arabia expressed the following views, which were noted by the Committee:
.1 the implementation of resolution A.963(23) should follow the principles and spirit of the resolution and be faithful to UNFCCC;
.2 the Annex 1 countries of UNFCCC should take the lead in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities and the transfer of technological and financial assistance from the developed countries to the developing countries agreed to at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio, 1992 and embodied in the Kyoto Protocol, 1997;
.3 technical follow-up to resolution A.963(23) can take place only on the basis of the principles stated in paragraph 4.11.2 above; and
.4 the Working Group on Air Pollution should not consider the report of the correspondence group until the above principles are duly taken into account.
4.12 On the other hand, the Committee noted that the majority of the delegations that spoke were of a different view as follows:
.1 the outcome of the correspondence group was in compliance with the requirements of resolution A.963(23) on reduction or limitation of greenhouse gas emissions;
.2 the work of the correspondence group in general was supported by the shipping industry;
.3 the work on the development of an emission baseline and index figures were needed in order to develop an even more environmentally friendly mode of transport; and
.4 the shipping industry is growing as a consequence of the growth in international trade, but is still considered as an environmentally friendly mode of transport.
4.13 Although the Committee recalled the decisions of Assembly 23 and the adopted resolution A.963(23), it still could not reach any agreement on the issue and therefore agreed to postpone further consideration for MEPC 52, including consideration of the correspondence group report, where this agenda item will be given ample time for consideration.
Progress report on follow-up activities
4.14 The Committee, noting the information provided by the Secretariat (MEPC 51/4/1) on the progress made by DE 47 on the Guidelines related to the implementation of the NOx Technical Code, agreed to change the priority for development of the Guidelines from low to high in view of the expected entry into force of MARPOL Annex VI.
4.15 The Committee noted the clarification on entry into force and enforcement criteria of the SOx Emission Control Area status for the Baltic Sea and the North Sea Areas, as set out in paragraph 6 of document MEPC 51/4/1.
Other matters, including funding for monitoring the worldwide average of sulphur content of residual fuel oil supplied for use on board ships
4.16 The Committee recalled that MEPC 49 noted that funding for the present monitoring project on the worldwide average of sulphur content of residual fuel oil would run out by the end of 2003 and that the Netherlands would be prepared to continue the monitoring activities for two more years subject to availability of funds.
4.17 The Committee further recalled that MEPC 49 invited Member States and the Secretariat to explore further possibilities of a voluntary scheme for funding of the continuation of the Project at this session, before approaching the Council, seeking the funds from the budget of the Organization.
4.18 The Committee considered the possibilities of a voluntary scheme for funding and welcomed the offer for contributions by the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The Committee instructed the Working Group to consider the possibilities further, taking into consideration the comments made by delegations.
Establishing the Working Group on Air Pollution
4.19 The Committee re-established the Working Group on Air Pollution under the chairmanship of Mr. Bin Okamura (Japan), and agreed to the following terms of reference for its work:
.1 examine Assembly resolution A.963(23) in order to identify any necessary follow-up activities;
.2 consider GHG activities related to the co-operation between the Secretariats of IMO and UNFCCC;
.3 consider and make recommendations for IMO's participation in the work of IPCC;
.4 consider funding of the sulphur monitoring project in detail, based on the comments made by members at Plenary, with a view to a continuation of the project; and
.5 submit a written report to the Committee on Thursday, 1 April 2004.
4.20 The delegations of China, India and Saudi Arabia expressed serious reservations on the establishment of the Working Group and did not agree with its terms of reference.
Report by the Working Group
4.21 Having received the report of the Working Group (MEPC 51/WP.6), the Committee could not reach an agreement.
4.22 The delegations of China, India and Saudi Arabia made the following statement:
.1 China, India and Saudi Arabia regret that deliberations in the Working Group did not take into account the possibility of reaching common ground. The will of the majority was made to prevail over that of the minority. This was not consistent with the tradition of reaching decisions in the International Maritime Organization through consensus.
.2 The report of the Working Group fails to adhere to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities underlying the provisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, namely paragraphs 4.8 and 4.9, and fails to address the commitments of the developed countries to provide financial and technological assistance to the developing countries to meet their obligations under the UNFCCC.
.3 Further, it was noted that the developing Member States of IMO were not equitably represented at the Working Group. China, India and Saudi Arabia are therefore of the view that the report does not reflect the concerns of the developing countries, and dissociate themselves from this report in its entirety.
4.23 As a consequence, the Chairman, in order to reach a compromise, produced an informal paper (MEPC 51/J/10) to reaffirm the decisions taken on Tuesday, 30 March 2004. After an extensive debate, the Chairman, taking into account the views expressed by the delegations, concluded the following.
4.24 With regard to document MEPC 51/WP.6, the Committee could not accord approval of the Working Group's report. Therefore it decided to remain only to the decisions taken in the Plenary on Tuesday, 30 March 2004, which are the following:
.1 agreed to postpone the consideration of the report of the correspondence group on greenhouse gas emissions from ships (MEPC 51/4, MEPC 51/4/2, and MEPC 51/INF.10) until MEPC 52;
.2 endorsed the meeting between the Secretariats of IMO and UNFCCC to be held on 21 April 2004;
.3 welcomed the contributions to the sulphur-monitoring project from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom and possibly others; and
.4 urged Members to provide additional funding for the continuation of the sulphur-monitoring project.
4.25 The delegations of Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia suggested a modification of paragraph 4.2 of MEPC 51/J/10, which originally read:
"requested the Secretariat to approach the Secretariat of UNFCCC with a view to investigate the application of the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities to other modes of transportation",
to read as follows:
"requested the Secretariat to approach the Secretariat of UNFCCC on the application of the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities to international shipping."
However, at the insistence of some delegations, the Chairman decided that paragraph 4.2 of MEPC 51/J/10 would be deleted.
4.26 The delegations of the five countries reaffirmed the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities and the transfer of technological and financial assistance from the developed to the developing countries underlie the provisions of the UNFCCC and that these principles are also reflected in Assembly resolution A.963(23).
4.27 Since these principles were not explicitly recognized in MEPC 51/J/10, which was circulated as the basis for further discussions, the delegations of Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia registered their reservations on paragraph 4.24 above.
|
