- The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and International Maritime Organization (IMO) are seeking to fast track a proposed zero carbon R&D fund with $1.5m from the Green Climate Fund.
- The Secretary Generals of the IMO and ICS, Kitack Lim and Guy Platten, met with Javier Manzanares, Deputy Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund in Glasgow during a shipping side event COP26.
- The potential availability of $1.5m in funding from the GCF Project Preparation Facility (PFF) was discussed to accelerate the creation of the $5bn IMO Maritime Research Fund (IMRF).
Senior executives from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) have held talks during COP26 in Glasgow to discuss funding options for the IMO’s proposed $5 billion Maritime Research Fund, reads an official press release.
Proposal for research fund
With a growing body of maritime stakeholders pressing for the introduction of a carbon levy on bunker fuel to be used for the development of low and zero carbon fuels for shipping, the IMO is perceived in some quarters to be making little headway in discussing its own proposal for a research fund.
This fund, which will be debated at the next Marine Environment Protection Committee later this month, would be administered by the IMO and financed through a mandated R&D contribution by shipowners of $2 per tonne of bunker fuel.
Green Climate Fund (GCF)
At the meeting on the side lines of the ICS’s Shaping the Future of Shipping conference in Glasgow, the Green Climate Fund, represented by its Deputy Executive Director, Javier Manzanares, flagged the possibility of contributing up to $1.5 million from its Project Preparation Facility (PFF) to, in effect, kickstart the IMO’s fund. IMO Secretary-General, Kitack Lim, and ICS Secretary General, Guy Platten, also took part in the discussion.
The PPF, to be requested by a GCF Accredited Entity to develop the proposal, could be used to pay for the feasibility and governance work required to set up the fund quickly as soon as it is approved by the IMO. The IMRF proposal would provide guaranteed levels of funding to all member countries at no cost to taxpayers, to accelerate the production of zero emission ships.
This solution will be discussed further in the coming weeks but a one of key aims of the Glasgow meeting was to ensure that developing economies from Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Pacific can access technology and funding for zero carbon ships.
IMO Maritime Research Fund
The ICS’s Guy Platten, commented on the Green Climate Fund’s proposal: ‘I am grateful for the leadership of the Green Climate Fund and their attention given to the initiatives highlighted here at COP26, as well as their interest in supporting the IMO Maritime Research Fund, particularly for developing countries.‘
‘All the preparation has been done to ensure we can hit the ground running as soon as the IMRF proposal is approved. With the GCF funds we would also have the start-up funds in place. The only thing that can stop us now are Member States willingness to live up to the commitments they are making here in Glasgow.‘
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Source: ICS
