Shipowners will have to count CO2 emissions under EU plan

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Having gone far beyond international standards for sulphur oxide emissions restrictions (due to come into force in as little as 18 months), the European Commission has now outlined plans to force shipping companies to monitor their vessels’ CO2 emissions. The slated date for the new rules is the beginning of 2018 – easily enough time for shipowners to bury their heads in the sand and hope it goes away, before declaring it impossible – and the EC said it hoped that just by introducing such a system, CO2 emissions could be reduced by 2%.