International Shipping Industry Makes First Steps to Increase Fuel Efficiency and Reduce Emissions

The international shipping industry has taken its first steps to increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has agreed to enforce stronger energy efficiency standards for new ships beginning in 2013.

From July 11 – 15, 65 governments met at the United Nations International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in London and voted to move forward on reducing emissions in the worldwide shipping industry.

A group of countries led by the European Union states called for the introduction of minimum energy efficiency design index (EEDI) standards for the next generation of ships.

The standards would encourage designs and technology that can improve efficiency and reduce emissions, but a group of developing countries, led by China and Brazil, and supported by South Africa, had been lobbying hard against them.

In the end, the vote favored the EEDI standards, which are expected to save the shipping industry $5 billion, and more than 20 million tons of CO2 emission per year.

Non-profit group The Carbon War Room, which runs Operation Rock the Boat and ShippingEfficiency.org, calls the IMO’s move “historic.”

However, the group also notes that greater investment in carbon reducing technologies will result if EEDI were applied to the entire existing fleet. It would save the industry more than 220 million tons of CO2 and $50 billion a year, they say.