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MAKING THE EU FIT FOR 55 AND GREEN REVOLUTION
On 14 July we will not only be commemorating the French Revolution, but also be bearing witness to a green revolution in Europe, writes Isabelle Ryckbost, secretary general, ESPO
On this day, the Commission intends to launch a bunch of proposals to make Europe fit to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% in 2030. Together with the goal to make Europe the first carbon neutral continent by 2050, the fit for 55-target is included in the European Climate Law, which turns the Green Deal ambitions of the Commission into EU law.
Many of the fit for 55-proposals will be affecting ports directly, or have indirect effects on the business of ports.
As part of the package, the Commission will present a new proposal, the so-called FuelEU Maritime, to stimulate the demand of clean fuels in shipping. The Commission will review - and strengthen the current Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Directive, in order to improve the availability of infrastructure for alternative fuels.
For ports, the proposals will tackle LNG and onshore power supply, review of the Energy Taxation Directive, including the taxation of both conventional marine fuels and renewables, will also be part of the fit for 55. We further expect a proposal for including the maritime sector in the EU Emission Trading System (ETS) and a proposal to introduce a carbon levy on imports of certain goods, including steel, cement and electricity, that come from countries that do not have equivalent climate regulations in place.
ESPO SUPPORT
From the start, ESPO and its members have been supporting the Green Deal ambitions and have expressed the commitment of European ports to be partners in delivering the green transition. In that sense, we support efforts to increase the uptake and use of clean fuels and new technologies for shipping. For the same reason, ESPO supports a review of EU energy taxation in order to incentivise the use of clean fuels and considers it important to put a price on maritime carbon emissions through the EU ETS.
Some elements are important to take into consideration to make these proposals work for ports. The different proposals must work together and should favour a pragmatic goal-based approach to greening the maritime sector.
Such an approach would recognise that ports in Europe are very diverse and would avoid developing one size fits allproposals. Let me give the example of the onshore power provisions. While most ports are stepping up investments in onshore power, not all ports have access to the grid capacity needed (especially not renewable electricity) and some ports might have customers that favour the use of other solutions that are equivalent to OPS. The forthcoming proposals should recognise these differences and grant stakeholders a certain degree of flexibility to allow them to develop their own pathway to greening.
At the same time, the competitiveness of Europe's ports should be safeguarded. In that respect, the ETS maritime proposal should find a solution to prevent the deviation of transhipment calls from certain EU ports to neighbouring countries in order to circumvent ETS.
The same logic applies to the taxation of marine fuels, where introducing a tax on conventional fuels could jeopardise bunkering in European ports without any benefits in terms of emissions. We believe the new Directive should first rather encourage the deployment of alternative fuels through providing an EU-wide permanent tax exemption for OPS and other renewables.
Finally, ports can only become fit for 55 if the EU is ready to “fund for 55”. Many of the investments that will have to be made and facilitated by ports to green the shipping sector will have only a very slow and low return on investment for the port. The port authority is in this case not the polluter but is shouldering wider responsibility as a mission driven maritime stakeholder. It will therefore be important for ports to be able to rely on public funding and support to comply with the upcoming requirements for alternative fuel infrastructure in ports.
The fit for 55 package should provide ports with the tools to help deliver greening in the sector, where additional EU funding (including potential revenues from a maritime EU ETS) is needed for both the retrofitting and development of vessels and land-side investments in alternative fuels infrastructure.
One thing is clear: Getting all policymakers and stakeholders on the same page on these different issues won't be easy. We better get fit for a busy autumn.
8 Isabelle Ryckbost
