Industry has last minute say on EU ETS

The maritime industry from shipowners, ports, fuel suppliers, users, ship managers, engine manufacturers and yards has joined forces once again to call upon the European Parliament and the Council to support the energy transition of the sector. “We urge the Parliament and the Council to earmark the ETS revenues from shipping under dedicated calls in the Innovation Fund. Earmarking will provide essential support to the maritime sector as it strives to decarbonise. Bridging the price gap between clean and conventional fuels and funding innovation and deployment of clean energy technology will be critical for the decarbonisation of shipping,” says Sotiris Raptis, ECSA’s Secretary General.

In an open letter sent to key Members of the European Parliament as well as Member State negotiators, a group of signatories emphasise the importance of considering the full climate impact of new green fuels. The signatories include Methanol Institute, World Shipping Council, Swedish Shipowners’ Association, Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners, and the Renewable Hydrogen Coalition.

“We find it crucial that the ETS regulation genuinely drives reductions and uptake of new green fuels. To this end the fuels need to be assessed on a life-cycle basis, LCA, or so-called well-to-wake perspective which considers the full climate impact from extraction to refining and finally combustion in the ships’ engine,” says Maria Skipper Schwenn, Director of Climate, Environment and Security at Danish Shipping.

Jim Corbett, the World Shipping Council’s Environmental Director for Europe, said: “We are concerned that the current ETS language for maritime unintentionally favours so-called brown fuels from fossil production that increase GHGs.”

The European Sea Ports Organisation also says the ETS will only deliver as intended if the measure is well-designed. This means that all efforts must be made to avoid carbon and business leakage to neighbouring ports. European ports also call on the European Parliament and Council to ensure that the maritime EU ETS revenues are also used for the electrification of vessels and onshore power infrastructure in ports.