UK Shipping Industry Rejects EU Carbon Scheme

LONDON (Dow Jones)–The U.K. shipping industry has rejected the European Union’s emissions trading scheme, defying calls for shipping to be included in the carbon reduction program, the Guardian reports Wednesday, citing an interview with the head of the industry’s umbrella body.

“The EU’s emissions trading scheme will not work for shipping. It is not suitable. It is not a global system, and shipping is,” U.K. Chamber of Shipping Director General Mark Brownrigg said.

He said that if shipping were to be included in the scheme, as campaigners have called for, that ships would simply refuel instead at non-EU ports, the Guardian reports.

The Chamber of Shipping will publish on Wednesday discussion documents setting out how the industry could adopt different methods of carbon reduction, including emissions trading schemes and carbon taxes.

Brownrigg told the paper: “This is a complex international debate for which we need active participation from the shipping industry and governments to find a genuine solution. This must be global–through the International Maritime Organisation–rather than regional.”

Full story: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/aug/09/shipping-industry-rejects-carbon-trading?INTCMP=SRCH

-By London Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires

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