Apr 19, 07 : EU to Add Ships' Emissions to Trading Scheme
The European Commission confirmed this week that it will propose bringing CO2 emissions from ships into the European Union's emissions trading scheme (ETS).
The confirmation came after Jos Delbeke, the Commission official responsible for the ETS, told the Financial Times last week that the EU would propose its own action by the end of this year if there was no international agreement.
The threat of unilateral EU action on CO2 emissions from ships came as a warning to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
Without tangible progresses on measures to reduce CO2 emissions from ships at the IMO's Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) in July, the EU will act alone.
The IMO has so far focused its work on CO2 emissions from ships on methods of calculatimg emissions, and despite European pressure, expectations on what can be achieved on a global scale are low.
The main focus of the IMO's regulations on ship emissions at the moment is to tighten up current MARPOL Annex VI limits on sulphur oxide (SOx), nitrogen oxide (NOx) and other gases that are harmful to human health and the environment.
But the UK minister with responsibility for shipping recently gave the impression that SOx and NOx emissions from ships took a back seat compared to the UK's commitment to reducing greenhouse gases.
"Reducing CO2 is our overriding goal and shipping has not done anything in this area," Dr Stephen Ladyman told a shipping emissions roundtable event last month.
He said the UK was "determined to pursue the CO2 issue and to do this through the IMO," and predicted real process at the July MEPC meeting.
Meanwhile, green transport campaigners welcomed the EU initiative but said more action was needed.
"Emissions trading alone will not be enough to seriously reduce the environmental impact of the sector," said João Vieira of the European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E).
"The EU's estimates for aviation, also set to be included in the system, suggest that emissions reductions through trading will be offset by less than one year's growth of the industry. With shipping the situation will be similar," he continued.
He said the T&E would urge the EU to consider further measures such as differentiated port charges, en-route charges and fuel taxes.
A shipping official reiterated the sector's key argument about it being the most energy-efficient mode of transport, pointing out that while shipping may contribute to as much as 5% of global CO2 emissions, this should be seen against the fact that ships carry 90% of world trade
"In reality, shipping produces less greenhouse gases per tonne-mile than any other form of transport," European Community Shipowners' Association (ECSA) Secretary General Alfons Guinier was quoted saying.
Researches have warned that if left unabated, CO2 from shipping could rise by 75% in the next 15 to 20 years due to growth in global trade.
Unni Einemo, in SustainableShipping.com, 18 April, 2007
Source: http://www.sustainableshipping.com/news/2007/04/67559