Shippers balk at EU carbon market plan

(EurActiv, 14 Sep 2020) The shipping industry has railed against plans to expand the EU carbon market to the maritime sector ahead of a crucial vote in the European Parliament on Tuesday (15 September) that risks putting lawmakers on a collision course with shippers.

Unlike power plants, industrial sites and flights within the EU, ships are currently exempt from paying to pollute under the bloc’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), but that looks set to come to an end soon.

MEPs will vote on whether to support an initiative that aims to expand the ETS into uncharted waters, while the European Commission has repeatedly indicated that it is a part of its climate agenda.

The sector has a pollution problem: in 2018, it accounted for 3.7% of the EU’s total CO2 emissions and this year the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) ranked seventh on a list of the bloc’s top ten biggest emitters. The other nine are coal power plants and Ryanair.

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EurActiv, 14 Sep 2020: Shippers balk at EU carbon market plan