Ahead of the plenary vote on CO2 standards for heavy-duty vehicles, the Cyprus Shipping Chamber expresses full support to the European Community Shipowners’ Associations  call for the urgent need to make clean affordable fuels available for shipping. Sufficient quantities of sustainable and scalable renewable fuels are key for the energy transition of the shipping industry. However, the current lack of availability risks blocking the energy transition of the shipping sector, which is already one of the most difficult to decarbonise.

Although all sectors of the European economy need access to clean fuels and energy sources, the Chamber is concerned about calls to provide further incentives for the use of additional quantities of biofuels and RFNBOs in heavy-duty road transport by introducing the so-called Carbon Correction Factor (CCF). It is noteworthy that the direct use of hydrogen in fuel cells falls outside the scope of CCF and is defined as zero-emission vehicle technology under the CO2 standards for heavy-duty vehicles.

The ‘Fit for 55’ package and the 2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships have set clear targets making the energy transition of shipping not a question of ‘if’ but a question of ‘how’. The energy transition will require immense quantities of clean and affordable fuels for shipping, which is one of the most difficult sectors to decarbonise. We urge the EU policymakers to oppose diverting crucial quantities of clean fuels away from shipping by creating artificial demand for them in other sectors where alternatives exists