Car Carrier Emissions Data Gets a Formal Governance Body in GRC Council
Participants cover about 80 percent of global car carrier transport capacity
The Global Ro-Ro Community, a grouping of car carrier operators and other stakeholders that covers approximately 80 percent of the transport capacity of the global car carrier fleet, has established the GRC Council as the body responsible for its operation.
The council formalises governance over the emissions accounting methodology and data handling rules that the community uses. Its remit covers ongoing review and enhancement of the methodology, the data handling rules and related governance documents. The intent is to give not only ro-ro operators but also cargo owners and vehicle manufacturers a stable basis on which to use greenhouse gas emissions data, and to keep emissions accounting methods aligned internationally as they change.
The community was established in 2024 to promote collaboration between car carrier operators and cargo owners, bringing together carriers, independent verifiers and cargo interests to improve the accuracy, transparency and comparability of emissions accounting. Participating companies are working to establish an industry-wide emissions data platform.
The driver is regulatory and commercial demand for verified primary data rather than modelled estimates. FuelEU Maritime, the International Maritime Organization's greenhouse gas reduction measures and the advance of corporate Scope 3 disclosure requirements have all raised the standard of evidence expected from carriers. As the community's activities expanded, maintenance of the methodology, management of data handling rules and the transparency of decision-making became the operational bottleneck the council is meant to address.
ClassNK has participated as an independent verifier since the community was formed, providing verification of emissions data in accordance with the community's methodology. It contributed to the development of the governance framework and data handling rules, and supported preparation of related maritime legal documentation. Hiroshi Ochi, general manager of the classification society's Green Certification Department, has been elected vice-chair of the council.
For operators, the practical effect is that emissions figures quoted to cargo owners in the vehicle trades will sit on a governed methodology with a named verifier behind it, in the same way that the carbon intensity indicator provides a common regulatory yardstick at vessel level.
