1 The Conference of Parties to the International
Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified
by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto, held from 15 to 26 September
1997 in conjunction with the Marine Environment Protection Committee's
fortieth session, adopted Conference resolution 8, on CO2 emissions
from ships. The resolution invites the Marine Environment Protection
Committee to consider what CO2 reduction strategies may
be feasible in light of the relationship between CO2 and
other atmospheric and marine pollutants, especially NOx since
NOx emissions may exhibit an inverse relationship to CO2 reduction.
2 IMO Assembly resolution A.963(23) on "IMO Policies
and Practices Related to the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
from Ships" urged the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC)
to identify and develop the mechanism or mechanisms needed to achieve
the limitation or reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from
international shipping and, in doing so, to give priority to the establishment
of a GHG baseline; and the development of a methodology to describe
the GHG efficiency of a ship in terms of GHG emission index for that
ship. In developing the methodology for the GHG emission indexing
scheme, MEPC should recognize that CO2 is the main greenhouse
gas emitted by ships.
3 As urged by the Assembly, MEPC 53 approved Interim
Guidelines for Voluntary Ship CO2 Emission Indexing for
Use in Trials.
4 The Interim Guidelines should be used to establish
a common approach for trials on voluntary CO2 emission
indexing, which will enable shipowners to evaluate the performance
of their fleet with regard to CO2 emissions. As the amount
of CO2 emitted from a ship is directly related to the consumption
of bunker fuel oil, the CO2 indexing will also provide
useful information on a ship's performance with regard to fuel efficiency.
5 These Guidelines shall be updated, taking into
account:
- Operational experiences from trials of the index for different
ship types, as reported to MEPC by industry, organizations and Administrations;
- Progress in ISO regarding ship's CO2 performance;
- Any other relevant developments.
6 Industry, organizations and interested Administrations
are invited to promote the use of the attached Interim Guidelines
in trials and report their experiences back to MEPC 58 (October 2008).