Boat owners encouraged to sink cash into offsetting emissions at Dubai International Boat Show 2012

Carbon trading brokerage Advanced Global Trading (AGT) is floating an environmental proposition at this year’s Dubai International Boat Show as it tries to convince boating enthusiasts to ‘go green’ and offset the carbon emissions they emit from their vessels.

Reports estimate the global maritime industry last year polluted 1.5 billion tonnes of CO2, with a commitment to voluntarily reducing and offsetting this figure by 300m tonnes per annum. And, according to the director of a global Carbon Credit brokerage headquartered in Dubai, UAE, one of the ways to achieve this is through the purchase of Voluntary Emissions Reduction credits.

“As an example, there are over 10,000 super yachts worldwide and 46 of these are registered in the UAE,” claims AGT director Charles Stephenson. “With an average of 45 boating days per boat owner giving an average annual C02 emission of 7,000 tonnes from a mid-sized super yacht, this would mean an average carbon offset cost of US$91,000 per year for super yachts based in the UAE alone in order for them to operate carbon neutrally,” he explains.

Anyone interested in offsetting the damage their vessel creates on an annual basis will have their data, such as fuel and general power needed to run their yacht, fed into a Carbon Calculator, with one tonne of CO2 equivalent to one Carbon Credit.

And where this figure might seem large, it is based upon super yachts, and the majority of boat owners would face a much more affordable cost of negating the environmental damage they create partaking in their leisure activity of choice.

AGT representatives will also be at hand to give boat owners tips on how to reduce emissions before offsetting, through investing in more environmentally friendly technology. They will also offer advice on investing in Carbon Credits to the affluent crowd and how they can add potentially lucrative ‘green’ financial commodities to their investment portfolios, with investors making a premium of over 30 per cent on their VER credits during 2011.

Stephenson adds: “The maritime industry creates a lot of noise about their pollution, which his no surprise, given the global shipping industry moves about 90 per cent of the world’s trade. And even with the pleasure yachting industry, this privileged luxury sector needs to remain aware of the environment otherwise they will be forced into the more expensive compliance industry.

“Carbon Credits as an investment option is currently the fastest growing investment commodity in the world and business in the Middle East has been brisk, as within a year of opening our headquarters in Dubai, we have now opened another office in Abu Dhabi and will launch our Qatar office in June. A high percentage of our clients have investment portfolios exceeding $3m and own their owns boats and we’ve seen a general openness among these high net worth individuals to offsetting their emissions. Therefore, the boat show seemed an obvious platform to meet and discuss our ethos and products and we’ll also be launching our new iPhone app, which will make dealing and monitoring Carbon Credits even easier for investors.”

More than 100 new companies from over 24 countries will be exhibiting at the 20th anniversary of the Dubai International Boat Show. A total of 750 exhibiting companies and brands from 40 countries will be represented at the show, which runs from 13-17 March 2012 at the Dubai International Marine Club and will be open to trade visitors and the general public from 3pm-9:30pm daily.

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