ETS: Commission Consultation on Inclusion of Shipping

On 19 January 2012, the European Commission launched a consultation on “Including maritime transport emissions in the EU's greenhouse gas reduction commitment”. This follows the lack of an international agreement at the end of 2011 which included international maritime emissions. In this respect, a number of policy options are under consideration, derived from the Second International Maritime Organisation’s greenhouse gas study (2009) and the report on the technical support for European action to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from international maritime transport led by CE Delft. The policy options are as follows:

• a compensation fund
• an emission trading system (ETSⁱ)
• a tax on fuel or on emissions
• a mandatory emission reduction per ship

Stakeholders have until 12 April 2012 to respond to the consultation.

More information: See this month’s editorial - Commission consultation