The European Sea Ports Organization (ESPO) says in order for the EU Emission Trading System (EU ETS) to be a success, measures against carbon and business leakage as well as the earmarking of funds for maritime must be strictly applied.
Preliminary Agreement
A preliminary agreement was reached amongst co-legislators on the inclusion of shipping in a maritime EU ETS at the end of November. ESPO has called on the European Parliament and Member States in Council to ensure that the ETS safeguards the competitiveness of European ports, and avoids carbon and business leakage to ports neighboring the EU.
“Whereas the wording foreseen in the preliminary agreement on excluding calls in neighboring container transhipment ports in the calculation of the ETS charges addresses the concern of carbon and business leakage, it remains to be seen how waterproof this solution is in practice,’ said ESPO.
ESPO also signaled its approval of the agreed wording on dedicated calls for maritime under the Innovation Fund, and said it considers this inclusion as a ‘red line for accepting the final agreement’ along with the funding commitment.
Innovation Fund
ESPO argues that the Innovation Fund should support the deployment of new technologies that effectively avoid generating greenhouse gas emissions, whilst bridging the funding gap for mature but not yet commercially viable projects. “These funds should be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and noise through sector-specific investments that facilitate the deployment and use of sustainable alternative fuels…” said ESPO.
Moreover, ESPO strongly supports encouraging Member States to use the revenues generated from the auctioning of allowances for investments in maritime and ports. Isabelle Ryckbost, ESPO Secretary General, said: ‘The deal reached on the maritime pillar of the ETS addresses both the concerns we have in terms of carbon and business leakage…” ESPO has co-signed a joint maritime industry statement supporting such investments and calling for earmarking of ETS revenues in the final text.
Did you subscribe to our newsletter?
It’s free! Click here to subscribe!
Source: Bunkerspot
