Port of Rotterdam Calls for Shipping's Inclusion in EU ETS if IMO Plans Lack Ambition

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday January 9, 2020

The Port of Rotterdam has called for the EU to incude shipping in its emissions trading scheme if the IMO does not put "sufficiently ambitious" plans in place at the global level by 2023.

"An extension of the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) to include shipping is one of a wide range of measures that should be investigated by the European Commission in order to have a back-up instrument in place if the International Maritime Organization (IMO) does not adopt sufficiently ambitious measures in 2023," the port authority said in a report on its website Tuesday.

"The decarbonisation of shipping is expected to be too slow if there are no strong financial incentives such as market-based measures in place at global or EU level.

"In addition, the introduction of a global carbon offset scheme for shipping emissions above 2020 levels could help to curb growth of new emissions."

The IMO's initial strategy on greenhouse gas emissions reduction, adopted in 2018, envisages a cut of at least 40% from 2008's levels to shipping's carbon emissions per transport work by 2030, and a cut of at least 50% to the shipping industry's total greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The initial strategy is set to be revised by 2023.