July 15, 2021

“One single cruise ship alone uses as much CO2 per day as 80,000 cars.”

Ursula von der Leyen

14 July. European Commission has put forward an extremely ambitious and drastic legislative package to slash the greenhouse gas emissions.

President Ursula von der Leyen explained how the Commission wants to reach the new target of a reduction of at least 55% of greenhouse gas emissions until 2030.

The tool: carbon pricing.

The Emissions Trading System will be applicable to shipping, as from 2023.

The “Fit for 55” measures will require approval by member states and the European Parliament, a process that could take two years.

The EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) puts a price on carbon and lowers the cap on emissions from certain economic sectors every year.

  • The Commision proposes to include shipping emissions for the first time in the EU ETS.
  • Shipowners will have to buy quotas, otherwise they cannot berth in EU ports.
  • It is expected that the price of quotas will go up a lot.
  • As from 2030 passenger ships (ferries if more than 2 hours in port) and container ships will need to connect to shore power in port. (read below link for details)
  • The FuelEU Maritime Initiativewill stimulate the uptake of sustainable maritime fuels and zero-emission technologies by setting a maximum limit on the greenhouse gas content of energy used by ships calling at European ports.