- Currently, the levels of ambition in the initial IMO strategy include peaking GHG emissions from international shipping as soon as possible.
- This will need to be done in such a way that ensures there is no confusion or conflicting interpretation of the target agreed by the Member States.
- These could include strengthening the current 2030 level of ambition and introducing an additional progress checkpoint in 2040.
Submissions are pouring in ahead of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting in London in June. With an increasing number of western democracies demanding that the IMO raise its green targets to ensure that all greenhouse gas emissions from shipping are phased out by 2050, rather than the current target of a 50% reduction from a 2008 baseline as reported by Splash 247.
Meetings scheduled
In another busy year for the green regulatory calendar, MEPC 78 has been scheduled to take place from June 6 to 10 and MEPC 79 from December 12 to 16 with proposals for both meetings ramming the IMO’s mailbox.
Following on from an earlier submission led by Kiribati, a proposal sent this month by Australia, Canada, Jamaica, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Solomon Islands, the United Kingdom and the United States has called for the IMO to revise its 2050 target to ensure shipping is a zero-emissions emitter by 2050.
Currently, the levels of ambition in the initial IMO strategy include peaking GHG emissions from international shipping as soon as possible and then reducing total annual GHG emissions by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels.
“There are strong arguments for the Organization to adopt a 2050 target to decarbonize international shipping,” the submission from the US, the UK and others stated, arguing that the sector needed to be brought into alignment with the collective commitments of parties to the Paris Agreement.
Zero-emissions
Admitting there was still much debate over the terminology over zero emissions, net-zero or climate/carbon neutrality by 2050, the backers of the proposal said an exact definition of a 2050 target will need to be decided in the process of revising the initial IMO strategy.
“This will need to be done in such a way that ensures there is no confusion or conflicting interpretation of the target agreed by the Member States.
However, what is currently clear is that the science and political perspective converge around 2050 being the year by which international shipping should no longer contribute to climate change,” the document stated.
These could include strengthening the current 2030 level of ambition and introducing an additional progress checkpoint in 2040.
The document has since been endorsed by members of the European Union, including Greece, home to the world’s largest merchant fleet.
International shipping
In a submission sent by the 27 members of the European Union this month, the European bloc backed the changes suggested by the US, calling for a revision of the levels of ambition taking into account the latest climate science and the inclusion of a specific date of no later than 2050 to phase out GHG emissions from international shipping.
EU countries also gave the thumbs up for the possible introduction of an additional progress checkpoint in 2040.
The two MEPCs this year promise to be far-reaching in terms of their long term shaping of the shipping industry.
Splash reported yesterday on China’s own vision to reduce shipping emissions in the mid-term.
Its basic concept is to set up the upper/lower benchmark CO2 emissions level for a ship based on its upper/lower ‘C’ rating boundaries as set out in the CII rating guidelines in conjunction with its capacity and actual distance travelled in a calendar year.
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Source: Splash 247
