Rushing laws to cut ship emissions will dampen world trade and speed up global warming, an influential group of Greek shipowners warns.
In a candid letter to the IMO the Greek Shipping Co-Operation Committee says a proposed emissions trading scheme or bunker levy may damage both the shipping industry and the environment.
Epaminondas Embiricos, chairman of the London-based group, says the fast-tracking of CO2 reduction plans is a cause for “serious concern”.
He said: “We believe the imposition of a levy on the shipping industry would be inappropriate and counter productive with serious negative consequences not only for the shipping industry and, consequently, the world economy, but also for the environment itself.”
Financial incentives to develop efficient hull designs and reduce pollution are already provided by market forces, the group argues, stamping out the need for regulatory emissions reduction schemes.
“Emissions reduction which can be achieved through technological improvement is considered to be insufficient to achieve the scale of reductions envisaged by governments in order to arrest global warming,” GSCC said.
“Further, reductions from the maritime sector can only be achieved by limiting or reducing the activity of the sector, thus limiting or reducing world trade.”
It argues any financial incentive scheme should be part of an overall transport policy, which encourages transport by sea where possible, due to the industry’s much trumpeted green credentials.
Emissions trading schemes are “a broad-brush approach which may well distort competition”, the GSCC says.
Pointing to a study by the Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research, Oslo, GSCC says ship emissions such as sulphate help cool the globe.
As such, Embiricos and co warn that reducing ship emissions could contribute to global warming. It acknowledges, however, that there is a lack of clarity among scientists as to whether ship emissions contribute to global warming.
“It would therefore be premature and inappropriate to target the shipping industry with measures of this kind before the actual effects of emissions from ships have been fully investigated and evaluated by further scientific study," GSCC said.
