Port of Rotterdam Calls for Higher CO2 Price

The Port of Rotterdam has called on the Dutch Government to form a coalition with countries in North-West Europe with an aim to introduce a higher CO2 price.

The higher price is expected to stimulate new investments in clean technologies and innovation, according to Allard Castelein, Port Authority CEO.

“A price in the range of 50-70 euros per ton of CO2 will stimulate companies to invest in solutions that we really need in order to realise the targets of the Paris Climate Agreement,” Castelein said, adding that “a North-West European coalition would guarantee a level playing field for the industry.”

The Port Authority announced that it would introduce an incentive of in total EUR 5 million to support vessel owners and charterers that experiment with low-carbon or zero-carbon fuels to promote climate-friendly maritime shipping.

The Rotterdam/Moerdijk port industrial area faces the challenge of reducing CO2 by 20 million tons per year as of 2030. The Port Authority is convinced that this target can be realised as part of the national Climate Agreement.

“The Government is currently focusing on the reduction of greenhouse gases. In order to switch to a new energy system, as a Government you also need an integral vision and a corresponding industrial policy for the new economy, the future industrial landscape and the type of R&D required to achieve that.”

Additionally, the Port Authority presented new research figures in the transport and logistics sector at the Energy in Transition Summit 2018. The study showed that marine and inland transport with Rotterdam as the destination or departure point is responsible for emissions of around 25 million tons of CO2 every year.

The majority of this amount, some 21.5 million tons, can be attributed to marine transport. To ensure that this sector also complies with the Paris Climate Agreement, emissions will have to be reduced by 95% by 2050.

The first half of this target can be achieved by efficiency measures, but the remainder will require the deployment of different fuels, the port concluded.