European shipowners welcome the ambitious and forward-looking climate change agreement reached in Paris this weekend. They call on all actors involved to work together for decisive action in the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), which is the appropriate international body to address greenhouse gas emissions from ships engaged in international trade.

Commenting on the outcome of the climate talks, 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. For shipping to play its part without losing its global competitiveness, we now call on Member States and the Commission to work intensively with their global partners in IMO on the control of GHG emissions from international shipping.”

“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”, said Patrick Verhoeven, Secretary General of ECSA, “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.”

Once the data collection system is in place, the IMO will be able to decide on steps ahead. “Together with our partners in the International Chamber of Shipping, we are ready to positively contribute to this process” added Patrick Verhoeven.

“We hope that the European Parliament as well as civil society will join us in supporting Member States and the Commission to seek a global partnership in the IMO, as no regional solution could ever guarantee global emission reductions nor a global level playing field for shipping. The EU has adopted regulation that is meant to facilitate and precipitate a global solution for CO2 emissions from ships. It is now time to translate these commitments into a global agreement” concluded Mr Verhoeven.

For more information please contact:

Patrick VERHOEVEN

Secretary General
Phone +32 2 510 61 26
patrick.verhoeven@ecsa.eu

or

Dimitrios BANAS

Public Affairs and Communications Manager
Phone +32 2 510 61 22
dimitri.banas@ecsa.eu