No IMO deal on fuel efficiency for ships

A decision by the IMO to implement an Energy Efficient Design Index (EEDI) for ships was blocked by several developing countries at a meeting of the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) in London in September. The standard has been under development for four years, and would have represented the first global measure to limit carbon emissions from shipping.

However, key developing countries led by China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Saudi Arabia, who had been involved in the negotiation process from the beginning, voted to reject the measure. It is now unlikely that any progress will be made until mid 2011 at the earliest.

Bill Hemmings of Transport & Environment said, "It's extremely disappointing to see such an obvious win-win policy blocked by a handful of short-sighted countries. Some developing countries appear to be worried about setting a precedent whereby a climate-related policy affects all countries equally. But that's a missed opportunity because developing countries will benefit just as much as developed countries from ships that use less fuel."

Source: T&E press release 4 October 2010.

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