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Co-operation with other relevant UN bodies
4.28 The Committee recalled that, following the request by MEPC 41, there had been ongoing co-operation between the Secretariats of IMO and United Nation's Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technical Advice (SBSTA) on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships and the use of bunker fuel oils in recognition of the Kyoto Protocol requirements. And, further, that the IMO Assembly, by resolution A.963(23), requested the Secretariat of IMO to continue co-operating with the Secretariat of UNFCCC and the Secretariat of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The co-operation between the Secretariats of UNFCCC and IMO had been ongoing since 1998 and the outcome of MEPC sessions and SBSTA sessions had been reported between the two organizations.
4.29 The Committee noted the information in document MEPC 55/4/2 (Secretariat) that an IMO representative participated at SBSTA 24, held in Bonn, Germany in May 2006 and gave an update of IMO’s work on greenhouse gases (GHG) from ships under agenda item 7(c) - "Emissions from fuel used for international aviation and maritime transport". The Chairman of SBSTA 24 welcomed the information by the IMO representative and expressed appreciation to IMO for its work related to reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases from ships and hoped the close co-operation between the two Secretariats would continue.
4.30 The Committee considered document MEPC 55/4/15 (Norway) providing further information on the UNFCC process, requesting an update of the status on the co-operation between the Secretariats of ICAO and IMO and proposing to update the IMO GHG Study.
4.31 The Committee noted that a Group was established at SBSTA 24 to continue the work on emissions from international aviation and maritime transport from SBSTA 23, which was held in Canada in November 2005. A number of SBSTA delegations stated that the issue should be referred to ICAO and IMO and should be solved by them referring to Article 2.2 of the Kyoto Protocol and decision 2/CP.3, while some delegations proposed to delete the agenda item entirely. Several delegations wanted to have a substantial discussion on this issue but, as the UNFCCC required consensus, no conclusions could be agreed upon. The Committee noted that SBSTA would continue the consideration of this matter at its next session (November 2006). The Committee noted further that the Secretariat had not planned to attend the SBSTA 25 due to a concurrent intersessional meeting of the BLG Working Group on Air Pollution, but that the outcome of this session with regard to GHG work would be submitted in a written report.
4.32 The Committee noted the information from the Secretariat that co-operation, regarding the limitation or reduction of emission of greenhouse gases from shipping and aviation, between the Secretariats of ICAO and IMO in recent years had been through the UNFCCC mechanisms only and no direct co-operation between the Secretariats of the two Organizations had taken place.
4.33 The Committee agreed that there was a need to co-operate with other relevant UN bodies in considering GHG emission issues from international shipping and instructed the Secretariat to continue the co-operation in accordance with resolution A.963(23). The Committee instructed the Working Group to consider how the co-operation between the IMO and ICAO Secretariats would be improved.
Update of the IMO-GHG study
4.34 The Committee recalled that, at its forty-second session, it instructed the Secretariat to initiate an IMO study on GHG emissions from ships and agreed to establish a Steering Committee and to provide funding for the study. The most comprehensive assessment to date of the contribution made by international shipping to climate change was contained in the IMO Study on Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ships published in 2000 as document MEPC 45/8, and as a follow-up to the 1997 Air Pollution Conference. The IMO study on GHG emissions from ships estimated that ships contributed about 1.8% of the world’s total CO2 emissions and stated that, at that time, there was no other mode of transport with a better record in respect of CO2 emission compared with the transport work carried out.
4.35 The Committee agreed that an update of the study was necessary to give a better foundation for future decisions and could help to make progress in the follow up to resolution A.963(23).
4.36 The Committee instructed the Working Group on Air Pollution to consider a time frame for an update of the IMO GHG Study and to develop draft Terms of Reference for it.
Ship CO2 emission indexing - Data from trials and shortcomings in the indexing scheme
4.37 The Committee recalled that MEPC 54 agreed that it was premature to revise the Guidelines and noted that the Guidelines stated that such revision should take place at or after MEPC 58, in order to gain as much practical experience as possible, to provide a better foundation for an update. On this background, the Committee agreed that it should not consider the proposals for amendments to the Guidelines in any depth but keep them in mind for consideration by MEPC 58.
4.38 The Committee agreed that the following documents related to the CO2 indexing scheme should be considered by the Working Group: MEPC 55/4/3 (Germany and Norway), MEPC 55/4/4 (Norway), MEPC 55/4/8 (Republic of Korea), MEPC 55/4/12 (India), MEPC 55/4/14 (India), MEPC 55/INF.9 (Japan) and MEPC 55/INF.11 (Republic of Korea).
4.39 The Committee thanked the Member States that had submitted information on indexing trials and the shipping industry that had co-operated to make it possible, for their efforts to promote the use of the Guidelines and expressed its hope that other Administrations and the industry would take the information into consideration when using the Guidelines.
4.40 The Committee instructed the Working Group on Air Pollution to consider the information from trials contained in the documents concerning the Interim Guidelines for Voluntary Ship CO2 Emission Indexing for use in Trials and report back to the Committee.
GHG module in GISIS
4.41 The Committee considered how the outcome of trials conducted in accordance with the Interim Guidelines for Voluntary Ship CO2 Emission Indexing for use in Trials could be compiled and made accessible for comparison and further studies by member States and the shipping industry. The Committee recalled that, at MEPC 54, it concurred with the advice from the Working Group on Air Pollution (MEPC 55/4) to establish a central database and considered the information provided by the Secretariat in document MEPC 55/4/11. Establishing a central database for operational data from CO2 indexing was supported in documents MEPC 55/4/4 (Norway) and MEPC 55/4/14 (India).
4.42 The Committee instructed the Working Group on Air Pollution to provide advice for a GHG module in GISIS, including how this should be designed and managed and to consider how the co-operation with the Secretariat could be achieved in order to establish the database within the reporting period.
Potential of emission trading
4.43 The Committee noted the information provided in document MEPC 55/INF.7 (United Kingdom) on background for emission trading and the different possible approaches to introduce such a mechanism for shipping. It also noted that emission trading was one possible operational and market-based solution, as called for by resolution A.963(23) when identifying and developing mechanisms needed to achieve limitation and reduction of GHG emissions from international shipping. The Committee agreed that, according to the work plan, technical, operational and market-based methods for dealing with GHG emissions should be considered by MEPC 56 and beyond and agreed to defer consideration of the document to the next session.
Re-establishment of the Working Group on Air Pollution
4.44 Following the debate and as agreed in principle by MEPC 54, the Committee re-established the Working Group on Air Pollution under the chairmanship of Mr. Bin Okamura (Japan) with the following Terms of Reference:
"Taking into consideration submissions by Members and comments made in Plenary, the Working Group on Air Pollution is instructed to:
.1 consider documents MEPC 5/4/5 (United Kingdom) and MEPC 55/4/7 (Finland and Norway) and, if possible, finalize draft washwater criteria for Exhaust Gas-SOx Scrubber Systems for approval by the Committee to be disseminated by an MEPC circular, and if it is not possible to finalize it at this session, consider how and when the washwater criteria can be finalized, and if this is through establishing a correspondence group, draft Terms of Reference for the Group;
.2 finalize the draft standard form of SECA Compliance Certificate for Exhaust Gas-SOx Cleaning Systems (annex to MEPC 55/4/9) for approval by the Committee;
.3 consider follow-up actions to resolution A.963(23), from a technical and methodological perspective, in accordance with the work plan and in particular to improve the co-operation between the IMO and ICAO Secretariats;
.4 consider the information from trials contained in the documents MEPC 55/4/3 (Germany and Norway), MEPC 55/4/4 (Norway), MEPC 55/4/8 (Republic of Korea), MEPC 55/4/12 (India), MEPC 55/4/14 (India), MEPC 55/INF.9 (Japan) and MEPC 55/INF.11 (Republic of Korea) concerning the Interim Guidelines for Voluntary Ship CO2 Emission Indexing for use in Trials;
.5 prepare draft Terms of Reference for the update of the IMO GHG Study and provide a possible time frame for such an update;
.6 provide advice for a GHG module in GISIS, including how this should be designed and managed; and
.7 present a written report to Plenary on Thursday, 12 October 2006."
Report of the Working Group on Air Pollution
4.45 Before considering the report of the Working Group MEPC 55/WP.6), the Committee noted the following:
.1 the Working Group welcomed the oral information provided by the representative of the ICAO Secretariat on the work on GHG emissions from international civil aviation. ICAO was a specialized agency for international civil aviation and has 189 Member States. In its work that dated back to the 1960s, ICAO had focused mainly on aircraft noise and aircraft engine emissions. Regarding its emissions work, ICAO initially focussed on technical and operational reduction options. Since 1998, ICAO had investigated the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of market-based measures to reduce emissions. This study concluded that among others, open emissions trading could be a cost-effective measure for this industry. Following the decision of the 35th session of the ICAO Assembly, ICAO was developing guidelines to incorporate emissions from international civil aviation into Contracting States’ emissions trading schemes consistent with the UNFCCC process. The task of developing these guidelines had been both complex and resource intensive and required active participation from Member States and experts. Also in this area, ICAO was preparing a report containing information on existing voluntary trading schemes.
.2 the Working Group noted that ICAO co-operated closely with the UNFCCC Secretariat and provided regular Statements to UNFCCC related meetings, keeping the UNFCCC process updated on the progress made on its environmental programme. ICAO welcomed the possibility of closer co-operation with IMO on GHG related matters in the future, which was in line with ICAO's stated long term policy to strengthen the co-operation between UN bodies in this area.
4.46 Having considered the report of the Working Group (MEPC 55/WP.6), the Committee approved the report in general and, in particular:
.1 approved the establishment of a Correspondence Group on Washwater Criteria for Exhaust Gas SOx Cleaning Systems co-ordinated by the United States* and approved its terms of reference as follows:
The correspondence group is instructed to:
.1 taking into account documents MEPC 55/4/5 (United Kingdom) and MEPC 55/4/7 (Finland and Norway), develop washwater discharge criteria for exhaust gas SOx cleaning systems in accordance with resolution MEPC.130(53) Guidelines for Exhaust Gas-SOx Cleaning Systems - MARPOL Annex VI, regulation 14(4)(b), including:
.1 washwater assessment - reference method;
.2 washwater monitoring in service;
.2 in light of the above, identify any inconsistencies with MEPC.130(53); and
.3 submit a written report to MEPC 56.
.2 approved the standard form of SECA Compliance Certificate as set out in annex 10 and instructed the Secretariat to attach it as an appendix to resolution MEPC.130(53) - Guidelines for Exhaust Gas-SOx Cleaning Systems;
.3 instructed the Secretariat to report the outcome of MEPC sessions and the outcome of other relevant GHG work within IMO to the ICAO Secretariat; and further invited ICAO to report the outcome of its work to IMO;
.4 instructed the IMO Secretariat to arrange for an officer to attend the next session of SBSTA;
.5 agreed to the recommendation of the Working Group to revisit the issue of the terms of reference for the update of the IMO Study on GHG at the next session and invited Member States and observers to submit input to the scope of the update and its terms of reference; and
.6 agreed to the recommendation of the Working Group that the advice sought by the Secretariat on GHG module in GISIS be revisited at the next session and invited Members States and observers to submit input on the remaining matters.
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* Co-ordinator:
Mr. Wayne Lundy
U.S Coast Guard
Tel: +1 202 372-1379
E-mail: wayne.M.Lundy@uscg.mil
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