European Parliament to Cut More Emissions

With the U.N.’s climate talks set for December, the European Parliament is voting for more cuts in in shipping and aviation emissions. The European Parliament wants the E.U. and its member states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent over 15 years.

In a statement it said: “Parliament points out that transport is the second-largest sector generating greenhouse gas emissions and calls on the parties to COP21 to work through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on measures to cut emissions before the end of 2016.”

The European Parliament’s release comes after the International Transportation Forum (ITF) stated that it favored a carbon tax for shipping in order to cut emissions.

ITF, a think-tank affiliated with the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), has suggested a carbon tax of about $25 per ton of CO2. Additionally, it wants operators should aim to reduce carbon emissions by half over the next 35 years and completely by 2080.

ITF also said that the impact on maritime trade would be marginal if the tax were set at around $25 per ton of CO2. The receipts from the carbon tax could provide resources for the Green Climate Fund.

In a September statement, IMO Secretary General Koji Sekimizu said: “I believe IMO is the only place to take this debate forward. Indeed, this was already recognised in the Kyoto Protocol, where IMO was designated as the agency to deal with greenhouse gas emissions from shipping – a responsibility that it has diligently and successfully undertaken.”