As the Copenhagen summit draws to a close, we are all agreed that achieving these carbon reduction aims is vital. It’s only we who can make this world a better living place for the present and future generations.
And European inland navigation is ready to make a substantial commitment to helping the world to work together to achieve those aims.
Inland navigation is already the most environmentally friendly form of transport (3.5 times less CO2 per ton-kilometre in comparison to road ), but that’s not enough. It has reduced its fuel consumption since 1990 by 15%. Today, the sector is actively working to make even more of a contribution to cutting down on global warming and the European Barge Union (EBU), European Skippers Organisation (ESO) and Inland Navigation Europe (INE) are confident that the challenge will be met.
The technology and techniques exist to allow inland navigation to say that we can achieve a 30% reduction in carbon emissions today. A fuel performance contest project  in the Netherlands has already achieved these savings thanks to fuel-saving on-board equipment and this can be applied across the entire European fleet. This, in combination with RIS (river information services – an intelligent transport system that connects ship to shore) means ship operators can use optimal cruising speeds and optimal vessel operation, responding to the conditions on the river, to achieve even further reduction in carbon emissions as long as navigable waterways are well maintained.
This makes transport by water the obvious choice for companies wanting to make their own contribution towards reducing carbon emissions and global warming. Including waterways and transport by barge in the supply chain is an intelligent business choice – not only does this reduce carbon emissions, it also avoids road congestion. And encouraging modal shift to increase use of water transport is an intelligent political choice for governments wanting to keep the promises they have made over the last fortnight.
With the rest of the world looking for reductions by 2030, inland navigation will look towards carbon neutrality by 2030. We do not have to wait – and we will not wait. As the oldest form of transport, we are committed to use the newest forms of technologies. With the support of government and business, projects already in existence, such as electric ships, clean fuel cells and using liquefied biogas can be accelerated and we can and should not just reduce the harm we do to the environment but eliminate it.

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