Join regulators, shipowners and NGOs in response to EC’s public consultation

The Cyprus Shipping Deputy Ministry (SDM) will facilitate a virtual debate on Monday 7^th December 2020 to explore the European Commission’s (EC)  proposed Emissions Trading System (ETS) for shipping.

The European Green Deal is the EC’s action plan to achieve a net reduction of at least 55% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 and climate-neutrality by 2050. The European Parliament wants maritime transport to be more ambitious in its derbonisation targets and believes ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above should be included in its ETS.

On 13th November 2020 a public consultation was launched and the Ministries of Cyprus, with the support of the European Parliament Office in Cyprus, are contributing to the process by facilitating a virtual seminar. All interested parties will join regulators, shipowners and NGOs to discuss the Commission’s intention to propose a legislative initiative.

The debate, entitled: “ETS in Shipping: Elixir or Threat to Sustainability?”, will be moderated by Cyprus Shipping Deputy Minister, Vassilios Demetriades. He will be joined by a panel comprising:

Regulators

• Ms. Magdalena Adamowicz, MEP, Member of the Committee on Transport and Tourism, European Parliament
• Ms. Clara de la Torre, Deputy Director-General of Directorate General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA), European Commission

Shipowners

• Mr. Andreas Hadjiyiannis, CYPRUS SEA LINES CO. LTD
• Capt. Alfred Hartmann, Hartmann AG
• Mr. Philippos Philis, Lemissoler Navigation Co. Ltd

NGOs

• Dr. Faig Abbasov, Shipping Director at Transport & Environment (T&E)
• Dr. Xenia I. Loizidou, AKTI Project and Research Centre

Welcome remarks will be provided by Prof. Costas Kadis, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Republic of Cyprus and Mr. Andreas Kettis, Head of the Office of the European Parliament in Cyprus. The following questions will then be explored:

• ETS comes in many shapes and sizes. Given the specificity and the international character of the shipping sector, what should be the “Dos” and “Don’ts” in the Commission’s proposal?
• Is ETS part of, or the only solution to mitigate climate change from shipping? Is it essential or more effective than other measures? What other market-based and/or operational measures are needed?
• How much should ETS affect EU shipping and internal market policies for the proposal to be proportional?
• As combating climate change knows no borders, how compatible is the EU-ETS with IMO’s global decarbonisation approaches?

Vassilios Demetriades, Cyprus Shipping Deputy Minister explained: “For Cyprus, it is vital that stakeholders from across the maritime industry engage collaboratively with regulators and NGOs alike. This is why we want to facilitate dialogue which provides a collective response to the European Commission’s public consultation regarding its proposed ETS, rather than simply submitting our own views.

“We must seize this opportunity to ensure that all affected voices are heard, working collectively towards the best possible outcome. It is essential that maritime transport makes a meaningful contribution to climate change while at the same time safeguarding its competitiveness. We hope that the seminar will help to provide the Commission with greater clarity on the best way forward.”

All interested parties are invited to join the virtual seminar and contribute their thoughts through the chat function and Q&A session. The discussion will take place at 15.00 GMT / 16:00 CET / 17.00 EET on Monday 7^th December 2020. For further details for the virtual event, please visit the this link.