PUBLISHER: Container News (www.container-news.com)
The global shipping industry is under significant pressure to reduce its carbon emissions, risking pariah status if it fails to deliver.
Contributing between 2.5% and 3% of all greenhouse emissions – more than the whole of Germany – its lack of progress incurred the wrath of UN secretary general Antonio Guterres, who criticised the IMO in the run-up to the COP26 climate change conference last year.
The IMO’s strategy was for a 40% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 against a 2008 benchmark, but in the wake of COP26 the organisation agreed to revise its plans, which its Marine Environment Protection Committee will consider in Spring 2023.
Yet disputes on how the shipping industry can reduce its carbon emissions threaten to drag on just as the UN, the EU, and national governments look to impose a patchwork of restrictions. The prime example is the opposition to last year’s plan for a $5bn fuel levy administered by the International Maritime Research Board to fund research into green alternatives. This has foundered on concerns over governance. As observers point out, it is not a great look when many shipping lines have experienced a highly profitable year.
The need for solutions and agreements is becoming ever more urgent. In Europe, the EU Parliament is imposing an entire series of carbon restrictions on shipping. Brussels has set a target for carbon-neutrality by 2050, aiming to reduce transport emissions by 90%. With the US also looking to tighten up on maritime greenhouse gas emissions and companies like Amazon and Unilever signing a