On 6 June the CCNR ECO Committee gathered together with a prominent topic on the agenda: “CCNR consultation on greening financing – EBU & ESO”.
Already in January, the ESO and the EBU were formally asked to respond to several questions summarised in the consultation. These questions focus on getting a sectoral perspective on the immersing topic “financing the greening of the fleet”. The European IWT Platform has therefore been tasked with collecting input from the EU sector on national level in order to obtain information on the needs of European shipowners with regard to the transition. Not an easy task given the many bottlenecks.
The conclusion of the consultation is that the sector needs a financial instrument. But not as the only solution. In addition to the need for a financial instrument, it has to be combined with targeted regulation, stimulating both shipowners and cargo-owners in order to speed up the uptake of green transportation. Without this combination, it is clear that no single policy instrument will deliver the required results.
Of course, this is only a summary of the responses collected, but the national member states of the CCNR were given the whole document with detailed information. At the moment, we see an open end to this discussion, the question is who is next in line to take the step towards concrete and much needed measures for the energy transition that inland navigation is facing.
Authour: Daisy Rycquart
