Chief executive of shipping giant Maersk, Søren Skou has stated that the European Union has chosen “the right approach” with its package of proposed environment regulations, reports LloydsLoadingList.
Proposals published this week included shipping in the bloc’s Emissions Trading System and forcing ships to meet increasing emissions intensity targets to encourage the transition to greener fuels.
“Maersk supports the phased approach chosen in ETS and the strong focus on spurring and financing innovative and not-yet commercially viable technologies,” Mr Skou said.
He said a carbon market could and should help cover part of the competitive gap of new renewable fuels instead of subsidising existing technology.
But shipowners’ group the International Chamber of Shipping said the ETS would cover just 7.5% of shipping’s emissions and impede efforts to set global rules through the International Maritime Organization.
“Other than as an ideological revenue raising exercise, which will greatly upset the EU’s trading partners, it’s difficult to see what extending the EU ETS to shipping will achieve towards reducing CO2,” said ICS secretary-general Guy Platten.
He said it was unfair for non-EU shipping companies to pay for “EU economic recovery plans” and accused the bloc of showing “political expediency” rather than leadership.
Mr Skou said the EU measures could show the IMO that significant emissions cuts were possible and would not lead to major price rises for consumers.
He said the bloc should start by applying its rules internally and expand their scope if the IMO does not deliver a strong global regulation by 2025.
This would ensure “that EU member states still have a strong voice at IMO based on facts and not politics”.
But he said the rules “should also be seen as the European Commission’s push to ensure that the EU does not miss out on the green energy revolution”.
The European Community Shipowners’ Associations warned that some of the proposals lacked consistency and shipowners needed enough time to spot potential flaws.
It said the funds should go to decarbonisation, not EU state budgets. A dedicated fund should be set up under the EU ETS to stabilise the carbon price for small and medium-sized shipowners.
To read much more on the giant Danish shipping's company's response of the proposed critical green regulations, click here.
