China said greenhouse gases from the shipping industry shouldn’t be covered by marine pollution rules because carbon dioxide isn’t a pollutant.

Emissions from ships may be better regulated by the International Maritime Organization’s council or a new international convention, said Xiaofeng Guo, a member of China’s delegation attending IMO talks in London this week.

IMO marine pollution rules are “definitely not the way because carbon dioxide is not a pollutant,” he said.

The IMO, overseen by the United Nations, has a meeting this week of its Marine Environment Protection Committee. “Now is not the time for mandatory measures” to improve the energy efficiency of new ships, he said.

International shipping contributed about 2.7 percent of global emissions in 2007, according to a July report from the IMO. That share may rise as high as 18 percent by 2050 as trade grows and land-based emissions fall because of greenhouse-gas limits, it said. (Bloomberg)