European Parliament Calls for Shipping Industry Contribution to Sustainability

Sep 17, 2020 at 1:28 PM

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The European Parliament has voted to include maritime transport in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). The vote was clearly accepted. Shipping companies must reduce their annual average CO2 emissions per transport performance for all their ships by at least 40 percent by 2030.

(Brussels) To decarbonize maritime transport, the European Parliament has voted to include CO2 emissions from shipping in the EU Emissions Trading System.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament in Brussels adopted its position on the Commission’s proposal to revise the EU system for monitoring, reporting, and verifying CO2 emissions from maritime transport (the “EU MRV Regulation“) with 520 votes in favor, 94 against, and 77 abstentions.

A Global Agreement Required

Members of the European Parliament largely agree that the reporting obligations of the EU and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) should be aligned, as proposed by the Commission. However, they note that the IMO has made little progress on an ambitious global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, the Commission must examine the overall ecological integrity of the measures adopted by the IMO, including the targets of the Paris Agreement. A global and ambitious agreement on shipping greenhouse gas emissions is urgently needed, they add.

The Parliament calls for ships over 5,000 gross tonnage to be included in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS).

However, the MEPs believe that a market-based policy for emission reduction is not sufficient and demand that shipping companies must reduce their annual average CO2 emissions per transport performance for all their ships by at least 40 percent by 2030.

Establishment of an Ocean Fund

The MEPs call for an “Ocean Fund” for the period from 2022 to 2030, financed by the auctioning of ETS emission certificates. This money should be used to make ships more energy-efficient and to support investments in innovative technologies and infrastructure, such as alternative fuels and green ports. 20 percent of the revenues from the fund should be used to better protect, restore, and sustainably manage marine ecosystems affected by global warming.

Jutta Paulus (Greens/EFA): “Today we send a strong signal in line with the European Green Deal and the climate emergency: Monitoring and reporting on CO2 emissions is important, but statistics alone do not save a gram of greenhouse gas! That’s why we go further than the Commission’s proposal and call for tougher measures to reduce emissions from shipping.”

The Parliament is now ready to enter negotiations with the member states on the final form of the legislation.

Background

Maritime transport is the only sector in which the EU has no specific commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Global shipping accounts for about 2 to 3 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than all EU member states combined. In 2017, 13 percent of the total transport-related greenhouse gas emissions in the EU came from the maritime transport sector.