Engelsk övers. av: Handel med utsläppsrätter för svavel- och kväveoxider inkluderande sjöfart: redovisning av gemensamt regeringsuppdrag

On 2nd May 2007 the Swedish Maritime Administration, the Swedish Energy Agency, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Swedish Institute for Transport and Communications Analysis (SIKA) reported in response to a joint government commission concerning a system for trading with emission rights for sulphur and nitrogen oxides that covers the shipping sector. The Swedish Maritime Administration has processed and translated the original report in order to make the material available to an international readership The government commission that was given to the four authorities is based on the fact that Sweden has worked internationally for a number of years in respect of measures against shipping emissions of air pollution. One area of concentration has been an attempt to widen the application of environmentally differentiated shipping charges with the Swedish differentiation of fairway dues as a model. The Swedish approach has won acknowledgment but the consequences have been very few. In tandem with the work aimed at spreading awareness regarding environmental differentiation of shipping charges an alternative, or possibly supplementary, route is now being analysed. The fact that emissions trading has started to be applied in respect of carbon dioxide at the European level (EU Emissions Trading Scheme, EU ETS) has also, in part, contributed towards a readiness to study new ways of limiting the sulphur and nitrogen oxide emissions by shipping in greater detail. The Swedish Shipowners’ Association’s proposal to introduce a system for trading with emissions credits for sulphur and nitrogen oxides should also be seen as a background to the government commission. The Shipowners’ Association proposes emissions trading that covers both shipping and shore installations. The Shipowners’ Association’s assessment is that the system has a significantly greater control potential than the current fairway dues while, at the same time, it can potentially contribute towards a more optimal balance between measures ashore and at sea.1 The debate surrounding economic instruments of control for limiting shipping emissions has been wider and has involved a range of authors and organisations. Nature Associates has proposed a form of mileage tax for shipping – a system that has the potential for better reflecting the socioeconomic costs than the current Swedish fairway dues.2 NERA3 and IVL4 have also published analyses within this sector. The question of trading with emission rights has also been out on the IMO environment committee’s agenda. For example the United Kingdom has argued that emissions trading has the potential to contribute towards emissions reduction with shipping in a cost-effective manner and has proposed that IMO should consider which role such an instrument of control should be given in the future.5 Trading with emissions rights has recently caught the attention of the Swedish government as well. In a joint article regarding efforts aimed at cleaning the maritime environment, the Minister of the Environment and the EU Minister refer to a trading system that includes emission rights within shipping for nitrogen and sulphur oxides.6 In contrast with Europe, there are experiences from USA of an emissions