EU Announcement for Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV)

I wanted to take this opportunity to write to you following the landmark announcement by the European Commission, which has officially announced its first step towards cutting greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping industry.
In summary, the proposal will create a EU-wide legal framework for collecting and publishing verified annual data on CO2 emissions from all large ships (over 5000 gross tons) that use EU ports, irrespective of where the ships are registered.
The Commission proposes that the Regulation enters into force in July 2015. The MRV obligations will apply to shipping activities carried out from 1 January 2018.
This programme is intended as a building block for a global system, and the proposed rules are designed to support a staged approach towards setting global energy efficiency standards for existing ships, as proposed by the United States and supported by other members of the International Maritime Organisation. The EU rules would be adapted to the global standards if and when a global system is set up.
The strategy set out in the Communication consists of three consecutive steps:
• The system of MRV of emissions proposed today;
• The setting of reduction targets for the maritime transport sector;
• The application of further measures, including market-based measures (MBMs), in the medium to long term.
Priority is given to establishing an MRV system because it is necessary for the other two steps. Robust MRV of emissions will deliver robust data for setting emission reduction targets. It is also a prerequisite for any market-based measure or efficiency standard, whether applied at EU level or globally.
The EU proposed procedure – what does it mean for ship owners?
Ship owners will have to monitor and report yearly the verified amount of CO2 emitted by their large ships on voyages to, from and between EU ports according to the methodology agreed in each ship's monitoring plan. Owners will also be required to provide certain other information, such as data to determine the ships' energy efficiency.
A document of compliance issued by an independent verifier will have to be carried on board ships. Flag state and Port State authorities will check ships' compliance through inspections.
CO2 emissions and fuel efficiency will need to be monitored for:
• all intra-EU Union voyages (ie those between ports under the jurisdiction of an EU Member State)
• all incoming voyages from the last non-EU port to the first EU port of call;
• all outgoing voyages from an EU port to the next non-EU port of call.
• all emissions from vessels within ports
Ship owners will be able to choose from a list of four monitoring methods.
Carbon Positive views this development as a positive milestone towards creating transparency of shipping's emissions as a result of monitoring, reporting and verifying data. This can then be used effectively to set realistic targets for emission reduction and enable the shipping industry to work clearly towards a more energy efficient and sustainable future.
Source: Carbon Positive