Large ships in the EU are to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Negotiators from the EU states and the European Parliament agreed on this early Thursday morning, as the EU Parliament announced. In a statement, the EU states emphasized that there are temporary exceptions, for example when ships head for small islands and areas that are economically highly dependent on their connection.
The Greens MP Rasmus Andresen, who was involved in the negotiations, criticized: “Due to very far-reaching exceptions, for example for island traffic and smaller ships, the agreed loopholes are too big.” The new law can only be an introduction to environmentally friendly shipping.
During the negotiations, the EU Parliament had advocated that the CO2 emissions from ships must be reduced by 20 percent from 2035 and by 80 percent from 2050 compared to 2020. The EU states followed the EU Commission’s proposal and proposed a reduction of 13 percent and 75 percent respectively. In the end, it was agreed that intermediate steps would be a 14.5 percent reduction by 2035, 31 percent by 2040 and 62 percent by 2045.
According to Parliament, the reduction targets apply to energy consumed in or between EU ports. If the port of departure or arrival is outside the EU, the reduction targets apply to 50 percent.
According to the information, ships from a size of 5000 gross register tons are affected by the new rules. According to the EU Parliament, these are responsible for the majority of CO2 emissions in maritime shipping.
In addition, from 2034 at least two percent renewable fuels should be used. “However, this only applies if the share of e-fuels in shipping is less than one percent in 2030,” said the E-Fuel Alliance initiative. If e-fuels are made with renewable electricity, these artificial fuels can be carbon neutral.
Communication from the EU states of June 2, 2022 Proposal of the EU Commission Press release from the European Parliament from October 19, 2022 Communication from the European Parliament Communication from the European states
