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When it comes to greenhouse emissions, the Port of Rotterdam sets a high bar for itself. An earlier
agreement between the port and the municipality sent a clear signal to the world: the two will work
together to reduce the emissions produced by the city, its industry and the logistics sector.
The latter ambition has been given more specific - and more challenging - form by the Rotterdam Port
Authority and environmental-interest group Friends of the Earth Netherlands. Carbon dioxide emissions
from ocean shipping are to be reduced by 30 per cent by 2020, compared to 1990 levels, and by 80 per cent in 2050.
Many port authorities, including Rotterdam's, are pushing for an international framework to reduce
carbon dioxide emissions. Such a framework might be created by incorporating carbon dioxide emissions
standards into the Environmental Ship Index (ESI).
This index, currently under development, is to serve as an incentive for environmentally sound shipping,
perhaps by varying port charges according to a ship's score on it. The Rotterdam Port Authority intends to
use the ESI to encourage shipping agents to make their fleets more sustainable and to use cleaner
fuels.
In itself, seaborne shipping is not a major contributor to global greenhouse emissions. Its carbon dioxide
output makes up a mere three per cent of global growth in atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, the
fact that a high-profile industry like this one has set its standards so high has had an enormous impact
on other industries. Also, if no action were to be taken, sea shipping's share in global emissions would
only increase - something the business wants to avoid, since it has a well-earned reputation as an
environmentally sound and energy-efficient means of transport when compared to its aerial and terrestrial
counterparts. In the words of Hans Smits, managing director of the Rotterdam Port authority: "Shipping
was not included in the Kyoto Protocol, but global cooperation is particularly necessary in a sector that
is international by definition."
According to scientists, greenhouse emissions will need to be 80 per cent lower in 2050 if global
warming is to be limited to two degrees Celsius, the highest level considered acceptable worldwide. It is a
figure that is relevant for society as a whole, not just the shipping business. Science tells us that stringent
measures will be necessary to limit greenhouse emissions if we are to avert severe climate change.
The fact that Rotterdam and the Netherlands are leading the way in reducing shipping's greenhouse
emissions should come as no surprise, considering the country's great maritime tradition, which is still
alive today.
The Port of Rotterdam has set the bar high when it comes to reducing
greenhouse emissions.
Photo Arie Jonkman
The Port Authority and Friends of the Earth Netherlands have called upon the Dutch
government's representatives to the International Maritime Organisation's MEPC (Maritime
Environmental Protection Committee) to urge the IMO to make haste with the development of an energy
efficiency operational indicator, an energy efficiency design index and an international agreement to
create effective market-based instruments to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
In addition, they have asked the Dutch government to request that the IMO move forward on specifying the
technical and operational requirements for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, based on cutting-edge
technology in engines, ship's hulls, propellers, alternative propulsion systems, speed, management
systems for sea transport, etc.
Trade association Scheepsbouw Nederland (Holland Shipbuilding Association) reports that the Maritime
Environmental Protection Committee already proposed a road map to select and implement
market-based instruments in July 2009. The organisation supports market-based instruments as a
means of reducing the shipping industry's carbon footprint, saying that "a global system can become
effective for all ships worldwide simultaneously, which means older ships will never have an unfair
advantage over newer and cleaner ships."
The last session of the IMO's MEPC proposed a cap and trade system, allowing for trade in carbon dioxide
emission credits. A fuel tax was also considered. This tax would be a function of the going rate for carbon
dioxide credits on the open market. The money thus generated could be spent on carbon dioxide
compensation projects and innovative developments in ship propulsion and energy generation. In addition,
the US proposed a plan to reduce emissions by implementing new management systems and indexing ships.
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