The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has announced details of discussions it held in London.

ICS' board of directors - representing national shipowner associates from Europe, Asia and the Americans - met to discuss a number of topics.

This included the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) developments in monitoring CO2 emissions, as well as subjects regarding the International Labour Organization and Maritime Labour Convention.

It pledged support to IMO for the development of a worldwide system of monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) on carbon emissions. ICS stated MRV was easy to apply, mainly working on fuel consumption and bunker delivery details. It also stated the system would not be used to develop market measures or a mandatory energy index.

However, the chairman of ICS Masamichi Morooka expressed concern for the European Commission's (EC's) proposals for a regional MRV. He said: "While [it] has stated that it would prefer to see the development of a global system by IMO, we are unclear whether [EC] is sincere in its intentions."