Webinar: “Is EU ETS the best way to decarbonise shipping?”

Webinar: “Is EU ETS the best way to decarbonise shipping?”

Date: 27 January 2021, Wednesday
Time: 12:00 - 13:30 CET
Venue: Online

Moderator: Martin Dorsman, Secretary General, ECSA

Presentation: Sotiris Raptis, Director Safety and Environment, ECSA

PANELLISTS

  • Jytte Guteland, MEP, Coordinator S&D Group in ENVI committee, European Parliament
  • Permanent Representation of Portugal (tbc)
  • Beatriz Yordi Aguirre, Director European & International Carbon Markets, DG CLIMA, European Commission
  • Faig Abbasov, Director for Shipping, Transport & Environment
  • Claes Berglund, ECSA President
  • Philippos Philis, ECSA Vice-President

BACKGROUND

The European Commission has announced that the EU ETS will be extended to shipping under a proposal expected to come out in June 2021. The European shipping industry is fully committed to decarbonise as quickly as possible, with a strong preference for international regulation by the International Maritime Organisation. Aiming to contribute constructively to the dialogue, ECSA is organising an open debate with key stakeholders to discuss the position of the European shipping sector.

ECSA is concerned that an EU Market-Based Measure (MBM) is likely to undermine the significant progress achieved in the IMO, to increase the costs for short-sea shipping and could lead to a modal shift from sea to land thereby increasing CO2 emissions. Meaningful support for R&D for low- and zero-carbon fuels and propulsion technologies is still missing. Bridging the price gap between conventional and low- and zero-carbon fuels is a prerequisite taking into account that such fuels/technologies do not currently exist for shipping.

Notwithstanding its firm position against a regional approach, ECSA believes that a fund should be established under an MBM to minimise as much as possible the administrative burden and to reinvest the revenues in the energy transition of the sector.

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