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 Chamber is leading the debate by launching ‘manuals’ on the two main options. This is the first time an attempt has been made to set out the practical implications for the shipping industry.
The Chamber has welcomed the advances made by the International Maritime Organization to promote the reduction of shipping’s carbon emissions through technical efficiencies but 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.
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.
Some consider the GHG fund to be more straightforward and provide price certainty for the shipping industry, however others believe that a global emissions trading system would provide stronger incentives to encourage the reduction of carbon emissions.
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.
“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.”
[mappress]
Source: british-shipping, August 11, 2011.