Monitoring, reporting and verification of CO2 emissions in maritime transport

Abstract

Maritime transport has a negative impact on the global climate and on air quality as a result of the carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions that it generates. As climate changes are causing environmental degradation, consequently posing a safety risk to human health and well-being, decisive action must be taken to reduce emissions. All sectors of economy have to contribute to achieve emission reductions, including the international maritime transport sector that represents around 13% of the overall EU greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector. In this paper are presented the EU regulations and procedures for monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) emissions in maritime transport, together with all the associated processes, known as the EU ETS (EU Emission Trading System) compliance cycle. Reducing GHG emissions from the shipping industry could result in a spectrum of beneficial impacts: Economic (reduced fuel consumption), social (human health improvement due to lesser exposure to pollutants), administrative (reducing administrative barriers), and ecological (cleaner air end environment).