[ad_1]
EU plans to reduce carbon emissions threaten to increase CO2 produced by the shipping industry, warned the head of the world’s second-largest container carrier.
Soren Toft, executive director of the Mediterranean Shipping Company, told the Financial Times that EU measures, which are still being considered, would have the reverse effect of their intentions unless low-carbon fuels were available.
This is because operators would be forced to slow down their vessels to meet the demand for cuts, creating the need for more new vessels to maintain service levels.
“For us, it is very clear that what they are proposing in the absence of carbon neutral fuels will add more capacity, more containers, everything that needs to be funded, built in Asia, which will produce more emissions,” he said.
However, Tristan Smith of the UCL Energy Institute said the notion that EU carbon measures would increase the industry’s emissions “was not credible”.
A ship’s emissions from bunker fuel combustion are much higher than those produced in construction and other economic factors such as the price of oil and transportation rates determine the speed of the ship, he added.
MSC’s comments, which will surpass Maersk as the world’s largest container group in terms of capacity with the largest order book for new ships, come at a critical time when the EU prepares proposals to revise its carbon market next month.
It is also significant that Toft, who joined MSC from Maersk in December, has spoken out, as the group has rarely done a courtesy in advertising since its founding in 1970 by Gianluigi Aponte.
A big question for the shipping industry is the scope of travel that the EU will target in its revised emissions trading system as policymakers try to reduce CO2 emissions by 55% by 2030 .
Shipping, which produces 2.4% of global CO2 emissions, is difficult to decarbonise, as low-carbon fuels, such as green ammonia or hydrogen, are not available.
Dierderik Samsom, a European Commission official leading the EU Green Agreement team, said the emissions trading system would be the main mechanism used to help reduce CO2. in the maritime sector.
Carbon pricing, which allows emitters to issue permits to meet CO2 targets, would provide a “real incentive for [maritime] the industry to decarbonize its fuel and decarbonize its entire operation, ”Samsom told FT’s Future of Europe conference last week.
He added that the industry could meet the new obligations by using different types of ships and differentiated navigation speeds to reduce its carbon footprint.
Toft has joined MSC with the industry facing widespread control on two fronts: its response to climate change and efforts to restore service reliability, which has crashed during the pandemic.
MSC vessels have lost 10,000 sailing days this year after waiting in congested ports, about a third from last year.
“We are struggling to deliver the service we believe our customers are entitled to,” Toft said.
But he insisted that the current disruptions in the global supply chain, which he believes will likely continue next year, “are not caused by carriers.”
Another concern for the industry is the possibility of a parcel of regional levies on emissions. “The EU will take this approach and before we know it we will have ten different approaches to deal with,” Toft said.
But some smaller operators, such as Torvald Klaveness and Maersk Tankers, say the industry should accept that the EU will legislate on maritime emissions and work to influence the regional initiative rather than prevent it.
Climate capital
Where climate change meets business, markets and politics. Explore FT coverage here.
Are you curious about FT’s environmental sustainability commitments? Learn more about our science-based goals here
[ad_2]
Source link
