Hong Kong bulk shipping operator Wah Kwong Shipping has entered into a memorandum of understanding with CLP Innovation Enterprises, a wholly owned unit of Hong Kong power utility CLP Holdings, to promote decarbonisation in the shipping industry.
As part of the agreement, Wah Kwong will purchase carbon credits from CLP to offset the carbon emissions of its business and the fuel it purchases for its fleet. Additionally, the MOU will enable the two parties to develop new service offerings using CLP’s carbon credits to meet the potential needs of other shipping companies.
We will send a strong signal to other stakeholders in the industry to join us
The CLP Carbon Credits platform allows users located anywhere in the world to calculate their carbon emissions and purchase carbon credits generated by CLP’s wind farms in India.
“Sustainability is something we very much take to heart. I am very glad that CLP has been here to give us guidance on taking this step. For us, this is merely the beginning. By having our friends here from the shipping industry, we will send a strong signal to other stakeholders in the industry to also join onboard on this push towards a more sustainable future,” said Hing Chao, a keen environmentalist and executive chairman of Wah Kwong.
Really!!!???
How will this reduce pollution??
Read carbon credit mechanism to understand
A wind farm is not off-setting the emissions What you do is that you buy such certificates and “donate” money to a green activity. Another issue is that both the shipping venture and the wind farm would be existing in its operations without the carbon credits certificate trades. To really try to off-set emissions a company would need to create some “offsetting activity” which – without the invested money – would not exist. And even then it is tricky as the offsetting activity often only works with a (sizebale) time-lag (e.g. new forests) and at a different location. I think it is a very good thing if a company supports sustainable activities outside of its regular business, but all this talk about off-setting is a lot of green marketing. If a shipping company wants to really off-set its emissions that it would need to capture its emissions and store it later in the ground at appropriate facilities. Or it would need to filter carbon from the air during its journey and store if afterwards (carbon capture and storage).