With the ambition of leading the green industrial revolution and accelerating the transition to climate neutrality, the European Commission has launched its Net-Zero Industry Act

Danish Shipping welcomes the ambitions and hopes coming negotiations will run swift and smoothly.

“Europe has historically been at the forefront when it comes to green innovative solutions, but if we want to continue to play a vital role in the green transition of our world, now is the time to act,” said Anne H. Steffensen, Director General and CEO in Danish Shipping.

With the Net-Zero Industry Act, the European Commission will reduce the administrative burden and simplify permit-granting processes for renewable energy projects, accelerate the use of CO2-capture and storage and improve conditions for investment in net-zero technologies.

“We have already set the course towards climate neutrality in Danish Shipping. But we need vast amounts of renewable energy to produce enough green fuels to affordable prices for our ships, so I am very pleased to see, that the Net-Zero Industry Act aims to streamline the permission processes for renewable energy projects. We cannot waste more time on bureaucracy,” said Anne H. Steffensen.

The European Commission also lauded the potential of Carbon, Capture and Storage as an important climate mitigating technology and presented targets for CO2 injection capacity of 50 million tonnes annually by 2030.

“I am also very happy to see that, the Commission wants to accelerate the use of CO2-capture and storage. Denmark is moving fast on this technology – just last week the first CO2 was injected into the seabed in the Danish North Sea. I expect the technology not only to help us reach our climate-ambitions but also bring a lot of work to our shipping companies” said Anne H. Steffensen.

With the increased focus on CO2 storage – the European Commission outlines the ambitions on an EU Single Market for storage services. Something that Danish Shipping has advocated for some time now.

“In Denmark, we have now proven that offshore storage of CO2 is feasible, so firm Union Single Market targets for CCS are certainly welcome. This now has to be followed by removing the regulatory obstacles for the supporting services, like maritime transport. We look forward to continuing the dialogue with the European Commission on these matters”, said Anne H. Steffensen.

The proposed Regulation now needs to be discussed and agreed by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union before its adoption and entry into force.