February 9, 2010
A.P. Moller-Maersk Chief Executive Nils Smedegaard Andersen said today that the world’s governments should hammer out a global agreement on emission standards for the ocean shipping industry when they meet on a new climate treaty in December.
"What we hope for is a model that applies to everyone," Andersen told Reuters on the sidelines of a business climate conference.
International shipping was not included in the Kyoto Protocol, a replacement for which the world will try to thrash out in Copenhagen in seven months.
Many shippers fear that competition will be distorted if the Copenhagen talks do not result in a global deal, causing some countries and regions to regulate separately.
"The most important thing is that it's the same for everyone. Otherwise you'll get distortions in global shipping competition," said Andersen, whose company owns Maersk Line, the world's largest container shipping line.
The best way to cap the global shipping industry's greenhouse gas emissions would be a tax on fuel consumption as that would be easiest to control and administrate, Andersen said.
The tax money should be put in a fund for environment friendly measures, he said.
"We of course believe it's easier to argue for a tax if money is actually spent on reducing the strain on the environment, rather than becoming just another source of revenue for governments."
Andersen said he hoped to be able to transfer most additional costs that a climate deal would mean onto customers.
"It'll depend how high the tax would be."
Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com.
Bravo to Maersk in taking a leadership position on this important issue. The environmental aspects of shipping are moving to the center of the radar screen and they are best addressed in a proactive rather than reactive manner. The new IMO fuel quality standards will significantly reduce particulate matter in coastal areas when they are implemented and the broad support by container carriers underscores their willingness to proactively adapt. A tax on absolute fuel consumption would lead to greater economic efficiency as carriers focus even more on per unit mile fuel use and would also reduce greenhouse emissions. With the leadership Maersk and other carriers have already shown, what would assist further would be for major shippers to formally incorporate environmental aspects in their carrier selection process.
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