London-based body launches ‘manuals’ on the two main options for market-based measures
Underlining its difference of opinion with most other national shipping associations, the UK Chamber of Shipping has urged the international shipping industry to keep the door open on all options to drive a reduction of its carbon emissions.
The UK Chamber has welcomed the advances made by the International Maritime Organization to promote the reduction of shipping’s carbon emissions through technical efficiencies but in a statement says it believes that it will prove necessary for the industry to go further – through the adoption of economic (or ‘market-based’) measures to meet governments’ expectations and targets.
The statement said: “International opinion is divided on the best model for reducing the shipping industry’s carbon emissions. Some support the idea of a greenhouse gas (GHG) contribution fund, in which shipping companies would contribute as part of purchases of bunker fuel. Others prefer an Emissions Trading System (ETS), in which shipping companies would buy a shipping allowance or ’emissions unit’, which they would then surrender according to their actual carbon emissions.”
The International Chamber of Shipping’s (ICS) director external relations Simon Bennett told that the vast majority of national shipping associations within ICS supported the policy adopted by the organisation earlier this year that its preferred option would be some form of levy.
Within ICS, the UK Chamber was the only national shipping association representing a significant amount of tonnage that did not support the preference for a levy.
The UK Chamber has however shifted its ground from its position adopted in 2009 when it issued a statement headlined “Shipping industry supports emissions trading to reduce CO2”. Now it has launched two ‘manuals’ on the two main options. It says that this is the first time an attempt has been made to set out the practical implications for the shipping industry.
Mark Brownrigg, Director General of the British Chamber of Shipping said: “This is a complex international debate for which we need active participation from the shipping industry and governments to find a genuine solution. This must be global – through the IMO – rather than regional.”
He added: “It is crucial that we do not discount either of the main proposed economic mechanisms for encouraging carbon reductions. The debate lies ahead on which option will provide greater certainty of outcome, ease of application, and without damaging the growth of the industry and world trade. That debate must be based on practical considerations rather than conjecture.”
Source: World Bunkering
