Climate change needs global approach: BIMCO

The European Green Deal, published on 11 December 2019 by the European Commission, highlights that ‘the environmental ambitions of the Green Deal will not be achieved by Europe acting alone’. BIMCO has said that it fully agrees with this, especially when it comes to climate actions for international shipping.

Whilst BIMCO recognises the EC’s intention to coordinate actions globally at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) level, BIMCO is concerned by plans to include international shipping in the European Emissions Trading Scheme, arguing that a market-based measure such as this should be at the global level at IMO.

Shipping’s decarbonisation will require new low and zero-carbon fuels. BIMCO said that it applauds the ambition of Europe to increase production of sustainable alternative transport fuel and accelerate the deployment of zero and low-emission ships.

Taxation of fossil based marine fuels is listed in the document as an area which needs to be looked at. BIMCO notes that there are practical reasons for not taxing such fuels, as ships would simply bunker outside the EU and also notes that taxation of shipping and its services is a delicate matter which has been dealt with for decades by states bilaterally using the OECD model convention.