Another important week in shaping international green shipping legislation gets underway

In a busy week for shipping green regulations, the environment committee of the European Union Parliament will vote on the inclusion of shipping in the EU’s carbon market (ETS) while the International Maritime Organization’s intersessional working group meeting is also taking place ahead of next month’s Marine Environment Protection Committee gathering (MEPC 78).

The results of the important European vote are expected to be known tomorrow and will then go to a vote at the parliament’s plenary next month before potential ratification by the bloc’s environment ministers at the end of June.

At IMO, meanwhile, carbon pricing is expected to be debated this week and at MEPC next month with the UN’s shipping body set to discuss six separate revenue-raising proposals. The similar set of proposals are backed by a diverse set of parties including G20 members Argentina, Brazil, China, Japan, South Africa, 55 climate vulnerable countries and the European Union. The measures would all use financial incentives to ensure the international shipping industry achieves the at least 50% decarbonisation goal the IMO set in 2018 – a target it has already agreed to strengthen next year, with many parties insisting the sector must eliminate all shipping emissions, and therefore fossil fuel use, by 2050 at the latest.

Splash will be bringing readers key takeaways from this week’s green legislation debates.