New EU agreement secures transparency about greenhouse gas emissions of passenger and freight transport

An agreement reached by the Council and the European Parliament on the Co­un­tE­mis­sions­EU proposal will introduce a common method for calculating greenhouse gas emissions, based on a global standard, both for freight and passenger transport services. 

”Thanks to this agreement, citizens and businesses will have a clearer view on the greenhouse gas emissions emitted by the transport services they use. This will also benefit transport operators, as they now will be able to account for their emissions based on this single, globally harmonised standard,” said Thomas Danielsen, Minister for Transport of Denmark. 

This means that if for example a shipping company wishes to highlight its efforts to reduce GHG emissions it will be required to use the new standard methodology. 

“I wish to thank the Danish EU Presidency for prioritizing this important agreement and delivering a great result. It’s crucial that we get the facts straight, when we talk about GHG emissions. This agreement will make it much harder to get away with “green washing” in the transport sector. A level playing field in this area will be to the advantage of the many progressive Danish shipping companies that are at the forefront of the green transition,” said Anne H. Steffensen, CEO of Danish Shipping. 

As stated in the press release from the Council: 

“Today, many transport services measure their GHG emissions, but they are often requested to use different methods. Therefore, the accounting of GHG emissions can be a complex task for transport operators. For consumers, it can be hard to know which service is truly greener.” 

This provisional agreement will now need to be endorsed by the member states’ re­p­re­sen­ta­ti­ves within the Council (Coreper) and by the European Parliament. 

See the press release from the Council of the EU here: 

Photo: European Union