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The application
of Market Based Instruments (MBIs) to international shipping is proving to be a
most difficult subject to address. Governments
held an in depth discussion of MBIs at a meeting of the International Maritime
Organization’s (IMO) Marine
Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) in July and proposals
have included ‘cap and trade’ Emission Trading Schemes (ETS), and a
carbon levy or tax system, which could be linked to a fund to help deliver
further emission reductions. However,
whatever measures may ultimately be decided, the international shipping industry
believes that, as well as having a net environmental benefit, MBIs, if adopted,
must be ‘flag neutral’ in order to avoid market distortions and maximise
their effectiveness in reducing CO2
emissions.
In
order to ensure that any MBIs applied to the industry are both workable and
deliver real environmental benefits, it is vital that the shipping industry is
fully engaged in discussions about the ‘pros and cons’ of all the various
proposals. On this basis therefore, and to help inform government discussions at
IMO, ICS prepared, in early 2009, a detailed analysis on the net environmental
benefits and commercial implications of the various possibilities for MBIs that
are being actively considered by governments.
You
can read the study in full
here.
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