The European Parliament voted in favour of the legislative amendments published on 8 February 2023 to the EU Emissions Trading Directive (the “Amendment”) to include the maritime sector in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (“EU ETS”). The EU ETS will be extended to cover Maritime Transport in respect of (i) 100% of the emissions from intra-EU maritime voyages; (ii) 100% of emissions from ships at berth in EU ports; and (iii) 50% of emissions from voyages which start or end at EU ports, where the other destination is outside of the EU. The Amendment also provides that if the IMO fails to introduce a global market-based mechanism (“MBM”) similar to the EU ETS or in the form of a global carbon levy then the Commission will consider whether to capture “more than” 50% of international emissions from ships after 2028. This aspect of the Amendment has been watered down from the originally proposed 100% of international emissions being captured from ships in the absence of an IMO MBM.
