IMO chief speaks out


International Maritime Organization (IMO) secretary-general Kitack Lim has written to senior European officials expressing his concern that including shipping in the European Union’s Emission Trading System (EU ETS) could undermine efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from shipping on a global basis. In a letter to Martin Schulz (president of the European Parliament), Jean-Claude Juncker (president of the European Commission) and Donald Tusk (president of the European Council), Lim acknowledged that the EU had an ambitious policy for addressing emissions and recognised that member states might wish to enhance the progress made to date. However, he cautioned against extending the EU ETS to include ships.