Malta has been criticised for showing low levels of climate change ambition in the shipping sector despite boasting the largest ship register in the EU.

The country was ranked 14 out of 23 EU maritime nations in a new report by campaign group Transport and Environment (T&E) assessing ambition for climate action in negotiations at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the UN’s specialised agency regulating international shipping.

The report found that countries with the largest shipping registers – with a deadweight tonnage of around 99 million, Malta’s shipping register is the largest in the EU by some distance – generally showed the least ambition in negotiations.

“This suggests that nations with large registries – large shipping industry flying their flag – by and large support industry’s lobbying position, which is to oppose an ambitious greenhouse gas target compatible with the Paris Agreement, as well as short-term reduction measures,” T&E said.

The country was ranked 14 out of 23 EU maritime nations

The group said the lack of ambition by countries such as Malta, Greece and Cyprus was troubling as tonnage represents a source of formal and informal power at the IMO – such countries can use their tonnage to drive action or slow down efforts.

T&E found that Germany, Belgium and France demonstrated the highest ambition in the IMO negotiations, followed by the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, UK, Denmark, Luxembourg and Finland. The worst five performers on the scale were Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Portugal and Croatia.

The ranking was based on stated national policy positions by each country on a long-term reduction target and on emission reductions before 2023.

Malta’s low ranking was largely due to a lack of support for short-term measures.

The report comes ahead of a meeting of the IMO in April to establish an initial strategy for reductions in the shipping sector, which is the only sector not subject to specific targets despite being responsible for three per cent of global carbon emissions.

Last year, the European Parliament backed an amendment that would bring shipping under the regulation of the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), if the IMO fails to agree to global measures to combat emissions by 2021.