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European shipping rallies ahead of ETS ruling

As the negotiations on the revision of the European Union (EU) emission trading scheme (ETS) enter their final stretch today, European shipowners, ports, the cruise and ferry sectors, shipyards and equipment manufacturers, fuel suppliers, shippers, forwarders, port operators, shipmanagers and the European maritime clusters have called on the European Parliament and the Council to earmark the revenues generated from the inclusion of the shipping sector in the EU ETS for the maritime sector.

The signatories call on regulators to support mandatory calls dedicated to the maritime sector in the innovation fund and the funding of these calls through the EU ETS revenues coming from the shipping sector.

“Earmarking will provide essential support to the maritime sector as it strives to decarbonise. Bridging the price gap between clean and conventional fuels and funding innovation and deployment of clean energy technology will be critical for the decarbonisation of shipping ” said Sotiris Raptis, secretary-general of the European Community Shipowners Associations (ECSA).

The ETS must reflect the whole climate footprint of emissions from fuels to be a truly green regulation, according to Danish Shipping in a separate open letter to EU’s decision-makers co-signed by organisations from both the energy and shipping sector including the Methanol Institute, World Shipping Council, Swedish Shipowners’ Association, Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners, and the Renewable Hydrogen Coalition.

“We find it crucial that the ETS regulation genuinely drives reductions and uptake of new green fuels. To this end the fuels need to be assessed on a life-cycle basis, LCA, or so-called Well-to-Wake perspective which considers the full climate impact from extraction to refining and finally combustion in the ships’ engine,” said Maria Skipper Schwenn, director of climate, environment and security at Danish Shipping.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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