ESPO welcomes EU’s deadline for shipping’s CO2 reduction

Earlier in November, the European Parliament and the Council reached an agreement regarding the shipping CO2 emissions to align any EU action with the IMO timeline. Many industry bodies have welcomed this decision so far. Recently,ESPO issued a statement to show its support.

This compromise is a part of the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) Directive, in which IMO to introduces an ambitious emission reduction target and accompanying measures by 2023, which must comply with the 2°C objective agreed under the Paris Agreement.

Furthermore, according to this agreement the Commission will report at least once a year to the European Parliament and the Council on any progress achieved.

    “The IMO is by far the right place to introduce a target and measures for shipping emissions. We need global action but we need it on time. There is a sense of urgency in order for the sector to contribute to the Paris objective to keep the increase of global temperature well below two degrees. We believe that in that context five years for achieving an agreement at global level is more than enough. The regular reporting should also help the EU and its Member States to sound the alarm if insufficient progress is made” says ESPO’s Secretary General, Isabelle Ryckbost.

The plans that are currently being scheduled bu EU, under the Paris agreement, must reduce the carbon emission on land and at sea.

Additionaly, ports, coastal cities and their local communities are amongst the most vulnerable to extreme weather conditions resulting from global warming.

    ESPO believes that on the basis of available scientific evidence, the IMO needs to strengthen its efforts and submit an initial reduction target to the stock-take process of the Paris Agreement in 2018 accompanied by short-term measures. By 2023, IMO should introduce the necessary target and measures to bend down the CO2 emissions curve, ESPO mentions in its announcement.

The ETS agreement is subject to a formal approval by Council’s COREPER and the plenary of the European Parliament.

Last week, Danish Shipping announced that it has welcomed the decision by the European Parliament and the EU member states to exclude shipping from ETS and pass the responsibility to IMO.

According to this agreement, shipping will be included in the trading system from 2023, in case IMO’s negotiations on a CO2 strategy haven’t made sufficient progress.