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Maritime industry unites to call for earmarking of ETS revenues

European shipowners, ports, the cruise sector, shipyards and equipment manufacturers, fuel suppliers, shippers, forwarders and port operators join forces and call on the Member States and the European Parliament to earmark the revenues generated from the inclusion of the shipping sector in the EU ETS for the maritime sector.

Earmarked revenues should aim to lower the price gap with clean fuels, to finance R&D and innovation and the scale-up and deployment of clean energy and technologies on board and on shore. Investments in port infrastructure, connection to the grid, energy storage and deployment of renewables should be also supported. Finally, support to training, upskilling and reskilling of maritime workers is key to meet the EU climate targets.

Read the joint statement here.

“The maritime industry speaks with one voice today and calls on the Member States and the Council to earmark the ETS revenues and to support the energy transition of the maritime sector. 80% of the current ETS revenues are already used for the energy transition of the ETS sectors. The Council and the Parliament have already earmarked the revenues for aviation under the current ETS revision. The maritime industry needs to be put on an equal footing, taking into account taking into account that our sector is one of the most difficult to decarbonise” says Sotiris Raptis, ECSA’s Secretary General.

“The greening of the shipping sector implies huge investments both on-board vessels and in ports, whilst the return on investment is low and uncertain for port managing bodies. The creation of a dedicated fund which supports the deployment of infrastructure for low- and zero-carbon fuels both on-board the vessel and at shore is therefore crucial to reach the aims the EU ETS is designed for,” says Isabelle Ryckbost, Secretary General of ESPO.

“The cruise sector is making huge investments in new technologies to lower its carbon footprint. A dedicated fund from ETS revenues will accelerate industry efforts to deploy sustainable marine fuels as well as support the introduction of the necessary portside infrastructure. It is an important example of how public and private sector can help each other to achieve a zero-carbon future and we call on the European Institutions to lend its support to the fund creation,” says Marie-Caroline Laurent, Director General, Europe, CLIA.

“Europe’s maritime technology industry develops the most advanced vessels and technologies in the market. The earmarking of EU ETS revenues will be of pivotal importance, accelerating innovation and scaling up the application of more sustainable fuels and technologies, also enhancing Europe’s leading role. Europe’s maritime technology industry is ready to play its part.” says Christophe Tytgat, Secretary General of SEA Europe.

“CLECAT supports market-based measures such as ETS which would contribute to lowering the price differential between cleaner and conventional fuels, while respecting the “polluter-pays” principle. A fair share of the revenues generated by the auctioning of maritime ETS allowances should be ringfenced and reinvested into the sector via investments in cleaner technologies and R&D projects to accelerate the market uptake of greener and more sustainable solutions in maritime transport,” adds Nicolette van der Jagt, Director General of CLECAT.

“Renewable and low carbon liquid fuels are key to decarbonise shipping. However it is common knowledge that the cost of these is higher than that of fossil fuels. Earmarking of ETS revenues to a specific maritime fund would strongly contribute to both bringing higher volumes of renewable fuels to the market and speed up the commercialisation of developing technologies,” states Angel Alvarez Alberdi, Secretary General of EWABA.

“The Advanced Biofuels Coalition welcomes the continuously increased use of advanced biofuels in the maritime sector. Further measures are however needed to increase the availability of low- and zero-carbon fuels, such as advanced biofuels. Earmarking EU ETS funds to be used for innovation in the maritime sector would send a strong signal to the investor community”, adds Marko Janhunen, Chair of the Advanced Biofuels Coalition LSB and Public Affairs Director at UPM.

“Maritime transport is the backbone of the European economy and invaluable for the Union's internal and external trade. To enable sustainable trade, it is therefore all the more important to support the shift of this sector away from fossil fuels towards climate-neutral options such as eFuels through revenue from emissions trading. Such financial support through the EU ETS also enables a more ambitious FuelEU Maritime with sub-quotas for eFuels and provides investment security for eFuel suppliers”, says Ralf Diemer, Managing Director of the eFuel Alliance.

“The fund should support the decarbonisation of the sector, while maintaining its competitiveness vis-à-vis third countries with less ambitious climate policies in place. Investments in green port equipment and refuelling and recharging infrastructure could for instance help port stakeholders cope with the competitive pressure of non-EU neighbouring countries, which do not apply emissions trading to the maritime sector, while at the same time supporting the decarbonisation of the maritime and transport sectors at large” states Lamia Kerdjoudj, FEPORT Secretary General.

“Reducing of the carbon footprint of vessels and creating the preconditions to make the maritime transport more sustainable is important for shippers. Earmarking ETS revenues to help the shipping sector decarbonise will enable international trade to continue”, concludes Godfried Smit, Secretary General of ESC.

ECSA