tonne mile). The required energy efficiency level will beincreasingly tightened with ships built in or after 2013having to be 10 per cent more efficient, ships built in orafter 2020 having to be 20 per cent more efficient andships built after 2024 having to be 30 per cent moreefficient than the average ships built between 2000and 2010. To measure compliance, IMO will use ametric calculation called the EEDI formula. Thus, the EEDI is a non-prescriptive, performance-basedmechanism that leaves the choice of technologies touse in a specific ship design to the industry. As long asthe required energy-efficiency level is attained, shipdesigners and builders are free to use the most cost-efficient and feasible solutions for the ship to complywith the regulations. Moreover, the EEDI will stimulatecontinued technical development of all thecomponents influencing the fuel efficiency of a ship. To allow for national shipping Administrations,particularly in developing countries, that need moretime to be able to implement and enforce the newenergy efficiency measures, a shipping Administrationmay waive the EEDI for the first four years. The SEEMPis an operational measure that applies to all new andexisting ships. It establishes a mechanism to assist theinternational shipping industry to achieve cost-effective energy efficiency improvements of themanner in which a ship is being operated. It providesan approach for monitoring ship and fleet efficiencyperformance over time, using the Energy EfficiencyOperational Index, also developed by IMO, as amonitoring tool and benchmark. It urges the shipowner and operator at each stage of the plan toconsider new technologies and practices when seekingto optimise the performance of a ship.MARKET-BASED MEASURESAside from the new MARPOL amendments, it has alsobeen recognised that technical and operationalmeasures would not be, in the longer term, sufficientto meet the overall reduction objectives indicated byscientific research - particularly in view of the growthprojections for world trade and, as a consequence, ofshipping. IMO has, therefore, concluded that a market-based measure (MBM) is also needed, as part of acomprehensive package of measures for the effectiveregulation of GHG emissions from internationalshipping. MBMs place a price on GHG emissions,thereby providing both an economic incentive for themaritime industry to invest in more fuel-efficient ships and technologies and to operate ships in a more energy-efficient manner, and a mechanism tooffset growing ship emissions in other sectors. Inaddition, MBMs can generate funds that could be used for different purposes such as climate changeactions in developing countries. In recent sessions,MEPC has been considering a number of MBMproposals submitted by Governments and observerorganisations.RECONCILING UNFCCC AND IMOPRINCIPLESIMO was established as a specialised agency under theUnited Nations to regulate all aspects of internationalshipping. IMO is therefore regarded as the solecompetent organisation with a global mandate toregulate the reduction or limitation of GHG emissionsfrom international shipping. The global nature ofshipping is addressed in IMO's constitutiveConvention, which enshrines the "No More FavourableTreatment" (NMFT) Principle, which requires ships tobe regulated without discrimination on account of theflag they fly or the nationality of the owner.On the other hand, the UNFCCC principle of "CommonBut Differentiated Responsibilities" (CBDR) has beenagreed to enable the sharing of burdens betweenStates and to place obligations for reductions inemissions principally on countries with historicresponsibility for the current and projected climateeffects. Reconciling the CBDR Principle with IMO'sNMFT Principle has proven a challenge. However, dueto the global nature of shipping, and the fact that mostships are registered in open registries established indeveloping countries, historic emission responsibilitieswithin the global shipping industry are quite differentfrom those within land-based industrial sources ofGHG emissions. Recognising the fundamental importance of the CBDRPrinciple under the UNFCCC regime and, at the sametime, conscious of IMO's NMFT Principle, IMO and its098LOGISTICS" "SHIPPING IS ALREADY THEMOST ENERGY EFFICIENT WAY TOTRANSPORTGOODS AND RAWMATERIALSAROUND THEWORLD AND, AS SUCH, IS ONLY A MODEST CONTRIBUTOR TOGLOBAL (GHG)EMISSIONS

Member Governments address the special needs ofdeveloping countries in an effort to help them developtheir maritime sector and to reconcile the twoprinciples. IMO's Integrated Technical Co-operationProgramme aims to assist Governments that lack theresources needed to improve their ability to complywith international rules and standards relating tomaritime safety and the prevention and control ofpollution from ships, giving priority to technicalassistance programmes that focus on human resourcesdevelopment and institutional capacity-building. The new Chapter 4 of MARPOL Annex VI includes aRegulation on "Promotion of technical co-operationand transfer of technology relating to the improvementof energy efficiency of ships", which requiresAdministrations, in co-operation with IMO and otherinternational bodies, to promote and provide, asappropriate, support directly or through IMO to States,especially developing States, that request technicalassistance. It also requires the Administration of aParty to co-operate actively with other Parties, subjectto its national laws, regulations and policies, topromote the development and transfer of technologyand exchange of information to States that requesttechnical assistance, particularly developing States, in respect of the implementation of measures to fulfilthe requirements of Chapter 4. The majority of theproposed MBMs under consideration by MEPC havethe potential to generate financial proceeds. Moreover,there is a general preference among IMO memberGovernments that a greater part of the revenuesgenerated by an MBM under the auspices of IMOshould be used for climate change purposes indeveloping countries, either through existing or newfunding mechanisms under the UNFCCC or someother international organisation. Creative andinnovative means are under consideration, whichwould see substantial funds, obtained through MBMs,being dedicated to climate change mitigation andadaptation actions in developing countries and mayalso include other ways to secure that a control regimefor international shipping does not have unwantedimplications for developing countries. CONCLUSIONThe adoption of mandatory measures to reduce GHGemissions from shipping is a breakthrough of majorsignificance for IMO, for shipping and, indeed, for theenvironment. This has been acknowledged in the widercontext of global efforts to combat climate change byUNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres.Having acknowledged IMO's outstanding achievementas establishing, for the first time in history, a globalGHG emission reduction regime for an entire economicsector, Ms Figueres went on to say that IMO had provenits strong leadership and commitment in addressingthe issue. And UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moonalso congratulated IMO "on the significant outcomereached at the 62nd session of the MarineEnvironment Protection Committee", adding that this"underscores the fact that IMO is best positioned toplay a leadership role in addressing greenhouse gasemissions from international shipping".Building on the progress achieved, efforts to encouragefurther reductions continue apace. Looking ahead, the62nd session of MEPC agreed a work plan to continuethe work on energy efficiency measures for ships, toinclude the development of the EEDI framework forship types, sizes and propulsion systems not coveredby the current EEDI requirements, and thedevelopment of EEDI and SEEMP-related guidelines.An intersessional working group meeting on energyefficiency measures for ships is scheduled to takeplace in January 2012, and the subject will again behigh on the agenda when the MEPC meets for its 63rdsession next February.nABOUT THE AUTHOREfthimios E. Mitropoulos is Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Mr Mitropoulos joined the IMO Secretariat in January 1979 in the Maritime Safety Division and in May 1992 was appointed Director of the Division. In May 2000 he became Assistant Secretary-General and in November 2003 was elected Secretary-General for 2004 to 2008. In November 2006, the IMO Council decided to renew his mandate for another 4 years, concluding 31 December 2011. Mr Mitropoulos is also Chancellor of the World Maritime University (Malmo, Sweden) and Chairman of the Governing Board of the International Maritime Law Institute. He is the author of several books on shipping economics and policy, categories/types of merchant vessels, safety of navigation and other shipping-related matters. LOGISTICS099Above:Efthimios E. MitropoulosPhoto: shutterstock.com