Lost at Sea

The UK is missing out on £1bn a year in tax revenues by not charging for shipping emissions from vessels calling at UK ports. This would provide a much needed boost to public finances.

The government is currently looking into expanding the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to the maritime sector. Under current plans, the ETS would only cover emissions from larger vessels in the UK’s ports, and those from domestic-only voyages. This would exclude 85% of UK shipping emissions from the ETS.

The UK government should cover 100% of domestic and port emissions under the ETS, and 50% inbound and outbound international emissions from all commercial vessels above 400 gross tonnage making UK port calls.

Charging ships for their fair share of UK shipping emissions is a win-win for the exchequer. The costs would mostly be borne by large, international ship operators. These companies are highly profitable and these charges would be peanuts to them but would provide the government with significant funds to pay for public services or scale up green technologies.

T&E's briefing summarises our main views in response to the Government’s recent consultation on the UK Emissions Trading Scheme Scope Expansion: Maritime with a number of key recommendations.