EMEA News
Regional Approach to CO2 Emissions Regs Would Not be Sustainable for Shipping, Says Shipowners
The European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA) and Danish Shipowners Association (DSA) have both welcomed last week's agreement on the EU emission trading system (ETS) directive, which saw the rejection of proposals to include shipping in the regional CO2 ETS.
"The vote reflects that a regional approach would not be sustainable for shipping, and that in order to achieve significant CO2 reductions, we have to look beyond our borders. This of course also means that the eyes of the European Parliament are now set on the IMO," said Conservative MEP Bendt Bendtsen.
ECSA Secretary General Patrick Verhoeven said: "This is an important signal from the European Parliament and we fully agree that IMO now has to deliver a workplan and set a timeline for the further reduction of the sector's CO2 emissions."
How shipping intends to manage its CO2 emissions will be one of the topics set for discussion at the 70th Session of IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), which runs from October 24-28, 2016, and Verhoeven said ECSA expects that "decisive steps" will be taken.
"All mechanisms aimed at tackling CO2 emissions from shipping must remain global and apply equally to all ships," he added.
Last week the Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) called on member states of IMO at MEPC70 to take action to align shipping industry regulations with the climate agreement reached at COP 21 in Paris last year.
