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The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has reaffirmed its commitment to developing a consensus among its member national shipowner associations about possible Market Based Instruments (MBIs) to help reduce the shipping industry’s CO2 emissions.

ICS is the principal international trade association for shipowners, with a membership of 33 national shipowners’ associations representing all sectors and trades and about 75% of the world merchant fleet.

MBIs are widely expected to form part of the comprehensive package for reducing shipping’s CO2 emissions that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will develop during 2010, subject to IMO being given a mandate to finalise its work by the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

ICS has said that it is committed to reaching a broad agreement with national associations concerning MBIs in order to present a common international industry position with governments, at IMO and UNFCCC, during the complex negotiations in the months ahead.

Commenting on the isse, ICS said "This is an extremely complex task given the wide range of national perspectives on the issue, and differences of approach between large and small companies, and the extent to which individual companies may perceive the impact of various options on their own commercial operations. Moreover, many of the proposals for MBIs that have so far been suggested - whether by governments or within the industry - are largely conceptual, and still do not contain enough practical detail, about how they would operate in practice, to fully assess their impact. The task of ICS, however, is to represent the best interests of the international shipping industry as whole."

Over a year ago the ICS Executive Committee established a high level working group which is continuing to examine the ‘pros and cons’ of various options for MBI, including a possible fuel levy, emission trading schemes, or some hybrid combination of the two.

"It has never been the intention of ICS to seek to reach agreement on a single preferred MBI; during recent discussions real progress has been made towards a consensus on the essential characteristics of any MBI for shipping, i.e. that it should be ‘flag neutral’ in its effect to avoid distorting markets, simple to administer and provide overall environmental benefit in respect of climate change. Above all, any MBI for shipping must be acceptable to all IMO Member States, including those that are non-Annex I nations under the existing Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change," ICS said.

"Many ICS member associations have publically expressed a preference for one form of MBI or another. There are actually remarkable similarities between those proposals based on a levy and those based on some form of emission trading, and the diversity of views is an indication of the complexity involved in finding a solution that is fit for purpose and capable of offering real CO2 emissions reduction, " ICS added.

The Chamber said it will continue to pursue its role as an ‘honest broker’, providing "considered comment" on the implications of proposals that may be made by governments in the months ahead.

Meanwhile, the ICS said its immediate priority is to persuade government negotiators attending the UNFCCC Conference, in Copenhagen in December, that IMO should be given a mandate to complete its work on technical measures to reduce CO2 as well as possible MBIs.