Grimaldi proposes $10 per ton tax on CO2 emissions

Emanuele Grimaldi, chairman of Confitarma and CEO of Naples-based Grimaldi Group, has proposed a tax on ship emissions after the COP21 climate change summit held in Paris last December failed to deliver on shipping and aviation.

“We should tax ourselves for ship emissions” said Grimaldi at the Mare Forum Italy conference in Rome.

“I’m thinking about $10 per certified ton of CO2 released and ship classification companies might have a role in this matter in order to certify the pollution coming out from any vessel,” he said.

Confitarma’s chairman also defended the Italian’s international register and the tonnage tax that might be revised by the government in the near future. “To be competitive on the international market we must operate under the same conditions as our competitors. This does not allow for exemptions and that’s expecially true for shipping,” Grimaldi highlighted.

Before the International Register was introduced, there were about 30,000 people directly employed in the maritime transport industry in Italy, while today there are about 63,000 direct employees plus another 100,000 indirect workers. Should some modifications to the regime make Italian ro-ro ships less competitive in the short sea routes, Grimaldi said “we are ready to take our fleet under the UK flag”.