The largest problems not covered by the Kyoto protocol or regulated...
The shipping industry, with a fleet of up to 60,000 ocean-going vessels, also accounts for about 10 percent of emissions which cause acid rain and deplete the ozone layer. Ships also produce particulate emissions...which by the industry's own admission surged by 50 percent in the last 15 years.
The IMO is busily reviewing current marine pollution laws, known as MARPOL Annex VI, adopted by countries in 1997, but that only came into force globally in 2005.
"If governments and industry cannot between them deliver bankable solutions within this deadline, we shall see a serious disenchantment with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) process, and a proliferation of local regulations, led in all probability by the EU and the United States," he said.
One problem the industry has is establishing how much CO2 fuel-burning ships create. A further obstacle is that like aviation, emissions from shipping are not covered by the Kyoto protocol on global warming.
Blind leading the blind....
"Projections are outside our control and that's half the problem. The weakness that we have as an industry is that we can act to reduce CO2 emissions, but do not have mathematical models to say what they will be," IMO rep said.
"It's rather like running on a treadmill and then trying to stand still."
