ECSA call for action

This follows the forward-looking climate change agreement that was reached in Paris at COP21.

Outgoing ECSA president Thomas Rehder and incoming president Niels Smedegaard said: ““The European shipping industry is fully aware of the new impetus that Paris has given to the fight against climate change and we are more determined than ever to be part of the solution.”

“Although shipping is not explicitly mentioned in the final text, we congratulate the French government, EU Member States and the European Commission for their role in this historic agreement.”

The presidents then called on Member States and the Commission to work intensively with their global partners in the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) on the control of GHG emissions from international shipping.

Patrick Verhoeven, Secretary General of ECSA said: “Following the adoption in 2011 of measures to increase the energy efficiency of the industry, the agreed next step is a global data collection system of CO2 emissions.”

“The governments in IMO will resume discussions on such a system in April next year, with the aim of ascertaining the real contribution of international shipping to global CO2 emissions. We strongly encourage all parties to ensure that these discussions lead to the establishment, as soon as possible, of a mandatory data collection system,” Mr Verhoeven concluded.