15 February 2017

CLECAT welcomes MEPs’ push for global action on shipping emissions

CLECAT, the European association of freight forwarders, transport and customs-related services, has welcomed today’s vote in the European Parliament to tackle emissions from maritime transport. The position adopted by the Parliament on reform of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) would include shipping emissions in the ETS from 2023 and create a “maritime climate fund” with a share of the proceeds, in the event that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has not adopted a comparable measure.

Nicolette van der Jagt, Director General of CLECAT, said “Today’s vote represents an important push for global action on shipping emissions. The existing EU monitoring, reporting and verification regulation for shipping emissions, and the new IMO decision on collection of ships’ fuel consumption data, are important first steps towards reducing emissions, but it is vital to go further and faster in developing a comprehensive scheme for emissions reduction. As shipping is a global industry and emissions know no borders, the IMO is the ideal forum for this action. MEPs have today shown that Europe can lead the way in driving this progress forward and we call on the IMO to step up and develop a comparable initiative at global level.”

The maritime climate fund would be used to compensate for maritime emissions, improve energy efficiency and facilitate investments in innovative technologies to reduce CO2 emissions of the maritime sector. CLECAT strongly welcomes this approach, as it is important that the costs of compliance in emissions reduction be re-invested into innovation for further improvement of shipping’s environmental performance.

Ms van der Jagt added: “CLECAT is active in initiatives to measure and reduce CO2 emissions throughout the logistics chain, including the Global Logistics Emissions Council and the LEARN project. Monitoring, reporting and verification of shipping emissions, logistics carbon footprinting, and actions to then reduce emissions based on this data, are inherently linked. Developing such a clear, coherent scheme for reducing emissions will therefore ensure that the logistics sector can follow the most carbon-efficient way to deliver for our customers.”

For further information, contact:

Nicolette van der Jagt        
Director General CLECAT
Rue du Commerce 77, B-1040 Brussels, Belgium
Tel +32 2 503 4705 / Fax +32 2 503 47 52
E-mail nicolettevdjagt@clecat.org / info@clecat.org