BRUSSELS, June 30 — Ship owners could be forced to pay for pollution from their vessels or face bans from European Union ports under draft plans to add shipping emissions to the bloc’s carbon market.
That would force owners to buy permits from the EU emissions trading system when their ships pollute. The ETS currently covers Europe’s power plants and factories. Shipping is seen as one of the trickiest sectors to decarbonise, with industry groups citing a lack of commercially viable green technologies.
If a shipping company failed to comply with the ETS for two years running, an EU country could issue an “expulsion order” to the EU to ban ships owned by the company from the bloc’s ports, the draft document said. Global shipping emissions are expected to rise if left unchecked, threatening efforts to curb climate change.