The upcoming European Union Emissions Trading System (ETS) amounts to a regional “tax on trade” that risks being copied by other regions, claims International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) deputy secretary general Simon Bennett.

His comments were made at the North Bund Forum in Shanghai, where the shipowners’ association has just opened a new office.

Highlighting the threat posed to shipping by regional regulation, Bennett pointed to the upcoming ETS, which the EU has introduced as a financial incentive to decarbonise.