Confident Commission raises pressure on shipping
The EU appears to have delivered an ultimatum to the international shipping community that Europe will take unilateral action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships if there is no global action by the end of the year.
[mailchimp_signup][/mailchimp_signup]Jos Delbeke, the Commission official responsible for the EU’s greenhouse gas Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), told the Financial Times that Europe would propose its own action “by the end of this year” if there is no international agreement.
The FT quoted Delbeke as saying: “If we cannot move forward [globally], then we feel we have to take steps on shipping. Similar discussions are taking place at the International Maritime Organisation. By the end of the year, we are going to come forward with a proposal to extend the ETS to shipping.”
With the meeting of IMO’s marine environmental protection committee (MEPC) scheduled for July, Delbeke’s comments – which are supported by the environment commissioner Stavros Dimas – appear calculated to put pressure on the IMO’s discussions. Little was expected from the IMO meeting, since IMO’s work on CO2 emissions from ships have focused on methods to calculate emissions, rather
than real measures to reduce them. But the threat of unilateral EU action could stimulate debate, especially as 41% of the world’s fleet is controlled by European owners.
Dimas’ spokeswoman Barbara Helfferich told ENDS Europe Daily the idea of unilateral action on shipping, including possibly putting it into the ETS, was “under discussion and analysis” within the Commission, and a decision would “probably be taken after the summer”.
An expert report for the Commission published in February said bringing shipping into the ETS would be the best way to address its carbon dioxide output. The report said it would give ship owners flexibility and be practical to implement and enforce. It looked at other possible measures but said none would accurately measure shipping’s CO2 emissions.
The timing of Dimas’ and Delbeke’s comments is significant, not just because of the IMO’s meeting in July. With the EU on a collision course with the USA over its plans to put aviation into the ETS, Commission officials could be looking to use its better relationship with America on the shipping issue as a way of putting pressure on the US on aviation.
The FT says Commission officials believe they won a victory at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (aviation’s equivalent to the IMO) by encouraging member nations to work with regional carbon reduction schemes.
Both shipping and aviation are excluded from emission targets under the Kyoto protocol.
NEW RULES
In a separate development, stricter penalties for operators guilty of discharging polluting materials from ships came into effect across
the EU at the start of this month.
The legislation adopted two years ago (directive 2005/35 on ship-source pollution) introduces a system of penalties to prevent and deal with maritime pollution more effectively, whether caused deliberately or through gross negligence. It will apply to ships using all EU ports, whatever flag they fly.
An international shipping inspection agency says it found over 3200 “deficiencies” in 4600 ships inspected for anti-pollution measures. The agency, Paris MOU, said 8% of ships were guilty of waste dumping at sea.
This news story is taken from the April 2007 edition of T&E Bulletin.