After I read with keen interest a Business report in Gulf News on China and the European Union (EU) curbing emissions on shipping, I was deeply concerned (China and EU bolster greener shipping to curb emissions’, Gulf News, July 8). It was referring to the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting, which was held earlier this month focusing primarily on the mandatory compliance dates for treatment of ballast water discharge.
I read with deep disdain the potential sinking of some Pacific islands due to climate change while more admiringly the EU’s determination to regulate emissions. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) sets global standards for the environmental performance of international shipping, thereby creating a level playing field so that merchant shipping cannot meet their financial commitments by simply cutting corners on environmental performance.
As an ex-seafarer for whom ships and the maritime business runs in my blood, it might be pertinent to highlight that merchant ships transport an eye-watering 85 per cent of global trade while responsible for three per cent of the world’s emissions. The latter statistic was stated in a Gulf News editorial. Currently, transport by water is cheaper than transport by air. Ships leverage on the fact that 70 per cent of the Earth’s surface is covered with water. Although shipping is well known as the most fuel-efficient mode of transport, it has been tasked with reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and doing its share to prevent global warming.
Merchant shipping as the most cost-effective method of international transportation and is essential for future sustainable economic growth. As the article indicated, with China and the EU going into a ‘green’ overdrive to decarbonise merchant shipping, the jury is still out on whether shipping can continue to provide a dependable, low-cost means of transporting goods globally, facilitating commerce and helping to create prosperity among nations and peoples.
- The reader is retired and based in Dubai.
