EU continues its meddling

THE European Parliament is pushing ahead proposals to include shipping in the European Union's Emissions Trading System (ETS) and calling for a ban on heavy fuel oil in the Arctic.

A few weeks ago, the head of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) wrote to senior European Union (EU) officials, warning them that including shipping in the EU's ETS - the world's first major carbon market - could undermine efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from shipping on a global basis.

Secretary-General Kitack Lim's letter followed a December decision by the European Parliament's Environment Committee that emissions from ships be included in the EU-ETS from 2023 if the IMO does not deliver a further global measure to reduce GHG emissions for international shipping by 2021. The EU move had been made in the full knowledge that the IMO was working to a timetable that could lead to measures agreed to in 2023, but not any earlier.