Danish Shipowners Call for Fact-Based Figures on Shipping Industry's Potential CO2 Emission Reductions

The Danish Shipowners' Association has called for more fact-based figures on how much the shipping industry can reduce CO2 emissions, as well as related impacts.

The Danish Shipowners' Association Tuesday issued a call for more fact-based figures on how much the shipping industry can reduce CO2 emissions, as well as related impacts.

The association says that, while there are already a number of initiatives underway to reduce CO2 emissions, more needs to be done to quantify how much the industry can undertake to align its reductions with the COP21 agreement.

"We lack knowledge about how and how much CO2 emissions from shipping can be lowered. There is a need for a concrete idea of ​​how far you get through technical and operational measures," said Maria Bruun Skipper, Director and Head of Security, Health, Environment, and Innovation at the Danish Shipowners' Association.

Results of such a study will better illustrate the need to develop additional regulations, such as a market-based mechanism, says Bruun Skipper, adding that, in addition, the impact such regulatory measures will have on the shipping industry should also studied and identified.

"The study will thus provide a better basis for discussing maritime contribution to achieving the objective of COP21 agreement," said Bruun Skipper.

The association says that the next step for the International Maritime Organization (IMO), after implementing a shipping emission data reporting system, is to begin discussions on what the shipping industry's fair share of total global CO 2 reductions are and the timeline on which such reductions should be implemented.

Further, the association says it would like to ensure that Danish shipping companies have an active voice throughout the IMO's process, ensuring that emission reduction goals are both ambitious and fact-based.

In December, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) said the removal of any explicit references to international shipping from the COP21 climate deal text was "unlikely to inhibit the aspirations of governments" to reduce the sector's emissions.

Last week, Ship & Bunker reported that the European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA) has stressed the importance for emissions reduction schemes for shipping to be implemented globally, warning against moving ahead with a regional European scheme.