Shipping Industry Calls for Environmental Protection

2008-05-20 Beijing

The influence of carbon emissions from the shipping industry on the climate change has received widespread attention, and vessels and related operations have put much more pollutants into the ocean environment. In view of this, the shipping community has begun to advocate “green shipping”. Henrik Ramskov, global president of Maersk Logistics, noted that there is great potential to reduce carbon emissions across the global supply chain. Maersk has established a complete system for environmental conservation, with policies covering all segments of logistics. In addition, the company has launched a brand new carbon footprint reduction service, the Supply Chain Carbon Check, the first environmental service launched by a logistics provider specifically to address challenges facing the global supply chain. With the rapid development of the Chinese shipping industry, China is also facing severe ocean pollution, providing a sense of urgency within the country towards controlling exhaust emissions from the shipping industry. Industry professionals have put forth the strategy of attaching importance to river and ocean transportation and optimizing the transport system, in a move to realize energy saving and environmental protection. Since the Regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships came into force in 2005, shipping has been regarded as an industry that is of great significance to energy saving and environmental conservation. The European Union also calls for development of efficient ocean and river transportation.