Mitigation of Air Emissions: Existing Policy Actions and Legislation

“Climate change is a serious problem and an international response is demanding, which must be based on a shared understanding of long-term goals and agreement on frameworks for action” (Stern in The economics of climate change-the stern review. Cambridge University Press, UK, Stern 2006). Reducing the environmental burdens of maritime transport is a challenging task, since such impacts are not only due to navigation but also due to activities carried out inside ports. In 2011 the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) adopted mandatory technical and operational energy efficiency measures for all ships irrespective of flag and ownership status. Also, the European Commission has recently settled down to a strategy for progressive inclusion of the GHG emissions from maritime transportation in the EU’s policy for reduction of overall emissions. As a first step in implementing this strategy, the Commission has proposed a Regulation which would establish an EU-wide system for the monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of CO2 emissions from large ships effectively starting in 2018. The EU has also expressed its concerns about the impact of transport on air quality through the Strategy for Sustainable Development published on its White Paper on Transport Policy, leading to the establishment of stringent sulphur regulation for marine fuels.