06/07/2021 Majority of EU shipping emissions could be included in carbon market :: Lloyd's List

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Majority of EU shipping emissions could be included

in carbon market
The EU’s 2020 emissions database shows a huge decline in emissions and vessels calling at
EEA ports from 2019. However, ongoing updates will likely bridge the gap
05 Jul 2021 NEWS

by Anastassios Adamopoulos
@Anastassios_LL Anastassios.Adamopoulos@informa.com

Containerships would see more than 65% of their emissions included in the EU Emissions Trading System
under upcoming proposals from the European Commission, while less than 60% of bulker emissions would
be covered, a Lloyd’s List analysis has discovered

HIGH COVERAGE FOR RO-PAX, RO-RO AND PASSENGERSHIP VESSELS Source: Ashley Cooper pics /
BECAUSE THEIR EMISSIONS OCCUR BETWEEN EEA PORTS. Alamy Stock Photo

Analysis of newly published 2020 emissions data for vessels of at least 5,000 gross tonnes by the EU showed that
upcoming regulatory proposals would particularly hit ro-pax, ro-ro and passengerships in terms of emissions
coverage, while bulkers and liquefied natural gas carriers would be among the least affected.
The European Commission will publish a proposal on July 14 to include the maritime sector in the Emissions
Trading System, the EU’s carbon market where companies buy emissions allowances that they can then
either use for their own emissions or sell to other companies.

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The proposal will suggest that all shipping emissions in the European Economic Area as well as some
international ones should comply with the ETS.
For international voyages, the commission will propose that either all incoming international voyage
emissions are covered or a hybrid model where 50% of incoming and 50% of outgoing international
emissions are covered.
Regardless of the final choice, containerships, the vessels segment that accounted alone for more than a
third of EU emissions, will have the highest coverage from the three conventional sectors, the 2020 data
shows, with oil tankers a close second.

LNG carriers would have the smallest ETS

coverage
Vessel type* 2020 Total Emissions (CO2 Full incoming +intra EEA** 50% incoming + 50% outgoin
tonnes) coverage coverage
Bulkers 13,715,201.6 59.8% 57.5%
Chemical tankers 8,725,513.3 71.6% 69.7%
Containerships 40,129,264.73 67.3% 65.26%
Container ro-ro cargo 1,266,954.57 76.48% 74.41%
ship
Gas carriers 2,538,991.73 66.34% 64.17%
General Cargo Ships 5,037,073.87 67.07% 67.27%
LNG carriers 7,636,866.65 53.05% 52.96%
Oil Tankers 17,546,299.96 62.68% 62.3%
Passenger Ships 1,245,758.74 94.77% 90%
Refridgerated Cargo 1,590,610.27 67.08% 56.74%
carriers
Ro-pax vessels 10,644,298.06 97.67% 97.5%
Ro-ro vessels 4,977,045.87 88.91% 88.96%
Vehicle carriers 3,994,686.91 65.98% 68.54%
Combination Carriers 114,687.93 57.07% 65.54%
Other Vessel Types 754,375.36 58.42% 59.41%

Soruce: EMSA\Thetis- MRV database

*Includes vessels of 5,000 gross tonnes and above calling at EEA ports

**Intra-EEA includes emissions at berth

**Incoming and outgoing refer to international voyages

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The very high coverage of ro-pax, ro-ros and passengerships is explained as most of their emissions occurs in
voyages between EEA ports.
On the other hand, intra-EEA emissions claim a very minor portion of LNG carrier emissions.
In 2020, ships calling at EEA ports emitted 119.9m tonnes of CO2 according to the new data published by the
commission and the European Maritime Safety Agency, down from 150m tonnes in 2019.

However, the decline is explained by a large difference in the number of vessels that called in the two years;
in 2020 10,662 down from 12,014 vessels in 2019.
Yet this gap will likely be bridged over the next few months as the database undergoes continuous updates.
The EU MRV is mandatory for all vessels of 5,000 gt calling at EEA ports. Shipowners are supposed to submit
their emissions data for the previous year to verifiers by April 30 who after checking it are supposed to
submit it for publication by June 30.
However, a regime where no one party along this chain has claimed responsibility for the integrity of the
database means that the data is changed freely and errors occurs.

The analysis of the 2020 database for this article was based on the July 2 dataset. Since then, the commission
has published updated 2020 datasets.

The 2018 and 2019 datasets, the first two of their kind, continue to be updated to this day; on June 30 the
commission published the 182nd version of the 2019 database and the 258th version of the 2018 database.
Additionally, there are also evident inconsistencies within the datasets in terms of the total emissions; the
aggregate of the reported emissions amounts for vessels in each sector is slightly different from the
aggregate of reported emissions for all of the different types of voyages within that sector.
In the case of 2019 that difference leads to a rather important data discrepancy; the total emissions reported
were 146.7m tonnes of CO2 but the total of the different voyage emissions subsets amounted to 150m tonnes
of CO2.

A full incoming international voyage inclusion in the

would offer marginally greater coverage

Year Total Emissions* (CO2 Full incoming +intra EEA** 50% incoming + 50% outgoing + intra
tonnes) coverage coverage
2020 119,917,629.5 69% 67.7%
2019 149,990,564.1 71.2% 69.7%
2018 145,618,037.6 70.9% 69.14%

Soruce: Thetis EU MRV database

*Includes vessels of 5,000 gross tonnes and above calling at EEA ports

**Intra-EEA includes emissions at berth

**Incoming and outgoing refer to international voyages

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Despite the ever-changing nature of the database there are some consistencies and patterns between the
datasets.
One of them is the level of ETS coverage based on the expected commission proposals. All three years show
very similar levels of coverage, at around 70%, and indicate that choosing to include full incoming
international voyages rather than the 50-50 model would offer slightly greater coverage.
The commission’s proposal will be negotiated with the European Parliament and the European governments,
so there is no guarantee that the final scope will end up being what the commission envisages.

Aside from the ETS, the commission will also propose on July 14 mandatory greenhouse gas intensity
requirements for shipping fuels beginning in 2025.

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