International shipping does not lend itself to inclusion as part of national emission targets.

A ship may be registered in one country while the beneficial owner of the ship may be located in another. The cargo carried by the ship will be of economic benefit to a variety of different importing and exporting nations. 
Most ships do not follow fixed routes and they will collect and deliver varying amounts of cargo in a large number of different nations throughout the course of a voyage. Moreover, the nationality of the entities exporting and importing the cargo carried will vary considerably from voyage to voyage. 

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is the United Nations agency responsible for the protection of the environment from the impact of maritime transport.

However, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) addresses

the overall obligations of governments with regard to reducing Green House Gas emissions.

As already acknowledged by the Kyoto Protocol, emissions from international shipping cannot be attributed to any particular national economy. Multilateral collaborative action will be the most appropriate means to address emissions from the maritime transport sector.   

Multilateral collaborative action will be best achieved by governments at the specialist United Nations agency – the IMO - that has a successful track record for the development of global regulations governing the shipping industry’s environmental performance. For example, the International Convention on the Prevention of Pollution by Ships (MARPOL) is ratified and enforced globally through a combination of flag state and port state control by IMO Member States.  

The delivery of significant emission reductions by the maritime sector will require that any mandatory measures adopted are applied on a uniform and global basis to avoid ‘carbon leakage’.  Most shipping companies have the freedom to decide to register their ships with the ‘flag state’ of their choice including those which, under the current Kyoto Protocol, are not Annex I nations. Measures to deliver meaningful emission reductions are thus much more likely to be achieved by instruments developed by governments at IMO.   

In 2009, only about 35% of the world merchant fleet is registered in Kyoto Annex I countries.

The direct Kyoto Protocol concept of ‘common but differentiated responsibility’ (CBDR) cannot be practically applied to shipping without the danger of significant ‘carbon leakage’.  The ‘flag state’ with which a ship is registered, or indeed the ‘nationality’ of the entity operating the ship, can change frequently, especially when ships are bought and sold.   

The direct application of the CBDR concept would also cause gross distortion of shipping markets, reducing the efficiency of maritime transport and thus the smooth flow of world trade.  However, the IMO principle of ‘no more favourable treatment’ ensures that standards adopted for shipping are applied equally throughout the world, delivering maximum environmental improvement.

The international shipping industry therefore believes that the achievement of meaningful reductions in CO2 emissions will be best achieved if nations agree that the developmentof detailed measures, for the international merchant fleet, should be directed by governments at IMO - but respecting the outcomes agreed for the sector under any new UN Climate Change Convention.  

Failure to deliver a global and uniform CO2 reduction regime for international shipping will greatly reduce the ability of the shipping sector as a whole to reduce its emissions. 

The carbon economy

Is low carbon economy the answer to the global financial crisis? Is it the next big bubble? According to a research by HSBC, businesses selling low-carbon goods and services now generate more revenue than the aerospace and defence sectors combined, making the sector one of the new linchpins of the global economy.

Listed companies in the climate change sector – including renewable-power generators, nuclear, energy management, water and waste companies – reached a global turnover of $534bn in 2008, according to HSBC. The aerospace and defence sector was worth $530bn, the international bank said. Revenues in the low-carbon sector soared by 75 per cent in 2008 despite the recession. Joaquim de Lima, global head of quant research for equities, said the results were “surprising and very encouraging”, given the financial crisis. “This shows how important this sector is becoming in the global economy,” he said. He noted that the sector had surpassed the growth rates predicted in the Stern review of the economics of climate change, published in the UK three years ago. In the landmark report, Lord Stern estimated that the low-carbon goods and services sector would be worth $500bn by 2050. “This seemingly huge figure has already been surpassed well ahead of time as more and more businesses adapt their business model [to climate change],” said Mr de Lima. Mr de Lima predicted that on current trends, revenues from the sector would exceed $2,000bn by 2020.

An increasing number of companies are entering the sector, with 368 on the HSBC Climate Change Index compared with 154 in 2004. In 2004, the HSBC Climate Change Index listed companies from around the world. Today 368 companies qualify for entry into the index. The US led the index, with its companies generating revenue of $111bn. Japan took second place with $105bn, Germany stood at about $80m and the UK at $14bn. The number employed in climate-related activities worldwide since 2004 has more than doubled from just over 1m to about 2.4m globally.

The research included only listed companies with a market capitalisation of more than $350m that derived more than 10 per cent of revenues from “clean technology” or related services. Only the proportion of sales that came from clean technology was counted – some of which was estimated, as many companies do not fully break out their sales from green activities. Low-carbon energy generation produced the bulk of the revenues, at $300bn, followed by energy efficiency and energy management products. This strong showing came in spite of reported difficulties for companies seeking financing for setting up renewable energy projects and despite a slackening of energy prices in the past two years.

We believe that low carbon economy is the trend of our times and a must do for entrepreneurs and investors. Many financial products have been built for green investments. Especially in south east Europe, financial products from the European Central Bank (Romania, RES projects), the World Bank (Boulgaria, energy efficiency upgrades) and governmental subsidies (Greece, RES, energy efficiency, waste management) seem to boost the region's energy market.

Data Mining

Data mining is the process of extracting patterns from data. The patterns, associations, or relationships among all these data can be transformed into important information. Information that can be used to increase revenue, cut costs, or both and can be converted into knowledge about historical patterns and future trends.

In the area of energy and environmental engineering data mining is being used to help us realize how a system or an organization operates. It 's the first and most important step which public and private organizations, SMEs, building owners e.t.c., who want to cut their operational costs and their impact to the environment, should take.

Business owners and CEOs from several business sectors such as shipping, hospitallity, industry, telecommunications, real estate and many others, especially during this last world economic crisis, use data mining to better understand their organizations and make them run properly, cut costs and reduce their environmental footprint.


Data mining consists of five major elements:

• Extract, transform, and load transaction data onto the data warehouse system.
• Store and manage the data in a multidimensional database system.
• Provide data access to business analysts and information technology professionals.
• Analyze the data by application software.
• Present the data in a useful format, such as a graph or table.

It is a very useful tool which helps engineering and consulting professionals implement energy efficiency improvement and environmental footprint reduction products and policies for their clients. For instance, installing some hardware and using a tailored software in a ship, we can understand where, when and how energy and natural resources are being used, how wastes are managed and generally the overall impact of the ships operation to the environment. Using this information the consultant engineer will propose to the managers and the owners ways and products which will help their ships cut operating costs and reduce their impact to the environment. Also general strategy and policies can be adopted in order to get harmonized with the international safety standards and get one step forward and ahead of the emissions trading system that seames to be created for the shipping industry.

*If you have questions about data mining and how this tool can be useful for your business or organisation in order to improve its energy efficiency and reduce its environmental footprint contact

mellon energy and one of our experts will be there for you.