26th meeting of the General Assembly of the IMO in London
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Mr President, Fellow Ministers, Mr Secretary-General, Your Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates and Observers, Ladies and Gentlemen,
These are turbulent times. Times in which much depends on IMO. Who would have thought two years ago that:
· ships would be taken out of service
· container lines would be terminated
· and freight rates would tumble as fast as they do?
IMO is doing its utmost to help the shipping industry withstanding the economic crisis. IMO reduces the administrative burden. (For example, by further developing goal-based standards, which can be a strong incentive to innovation.)
We are investing in times of recession because we know that the economic crisis will pass. The world economy will grow again. World trade will flourish and it will – as always – strongly depend on the shipping industry.
Therefore, we need to prepare our industry right now for a new economic take off. We need to prepare, so that we can return in an environmentally friendly way. We need to ensure that our future ships:
· pollute our seas less
· and eject less CO2.
The pollution of the shipping industry is largely due to containers that are lost overboard. Ships loose an estimated 10,000 of them each year.
One of the places where this worldwide problem is experienced is at the Dutch Wadden Islands. To the north of these islands, there is one of the major shipping routes in the world. Our islands are hindered by the containers and their loads that are washed ashore. The Netherlands would like to see IMO investigating what we can do about this global problem.
In addition to that, we face the enormous challenge of making our ships climate friendly.
· Today, the shipping sector emits more than a billion tons of CO2 per year. This is equal to five times the emissions of the Netherlands.
· If we don’t act, these emissions will be doubled or tripled by 2050.
We cannot afford to let this happen. We need to work together in preventing this scenario. And we need to start this work next month at the climate conference in Copenhagen.
The Netherlands is very committed to reducing the emission of greenhouse gasses. Not only because we are concerned about the global consequences of climate change. But also because we are - due to our geographic situation - especially vulnerable to climate change ourselves. Three-quarters of our country lies below sea level. Therefore, we are one of the front runners of the countries that adapt to climate change.
The Netherlands knows we need to adapt. But of course, we recognise the great need of preventing sea levels from rising. Therefore, we are doing all we can to reduce our CO2-emissions. We invest in a clean and energy-efficient shipping industry:
· Our country is the home base of Marin, one of the largest maritime research institutes in the world;
· The port of Rotterdam works ambitiously to halve its CO2-emissions by 2025;
· Dutch shipping companies are leading with the energy-efficiency of their ships.
But the Netherlands realizes that it can not take all the necessary steps by it self. We also need to act as an international community. We need to set high targets for the shipping industry in Copenhagen. Together with our fellow EU-members, the Netherlands proposes a CO2 reduction of 20 % by 2020 compared to 2005.
The Copenhagen Climate Treaty will set targets for the shipping industry. IMO is the primary organization that can help us meet these new demands. It is the only body that has the necessary expertise and the authority to make the difference.
The Netherlands would like to share its knowledge of climate friendly shipping with other IMO-members.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am not the only one advocating for a climate friendly shipping industry. We have already heard several of my colleagues making a similar plea. We agree.
We can get to work once the treaty has been signed in Copenhagen.
· Let us make use of our common ambition, let us make use of this momentum.
· Let us divide the burden fairly over our countries.
· Let us make a choice for clean and energy-efficient ships.
Thank you for your attention.