Introduction
Both the EU and the IMO have clear ambitions to reduce GHG (greenhouse gases) emissions from ships, and two similar albeit separate regimes have been introduced:
- EU MRV – EU Monitoring, Reporting and Verification of CO2 emissions (data collection started 1 January 2018)
- IMO DCS - IMO Data Collection System on fuel consumption (data collection starts 1 January 2019)
Both EU MRV and IMO DCS requirements are mandatory, and intend to be the first step in a process to collect and analyze emission data related to the shipping industry.
EU MRV vs IMO DCS
Whilst the EU scheme has focus on CO2 emissions from shipping activities to, from and within the EU area, the IMO scheme covers emissions from shipping globally. Whether, how and when the two regimes will converge is not yet decided. The below table provides an overview of the requirements from the two initiatives in terms of scope and reporting: