The global shipping sector has vowed to reduce CO2 emissions to net-zero by 2050 so long as governments aid the transition with a mandatory levy on shipping fuel to help fund the development of low-carbon technology.
Large container ship arriving in port. Photo: hxdbzxy / Shutterstock
Photo: hxdbzxy / Shutterstock
Just weeks ahead of the COP26 climate conference in Scotland, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) - which represents 80% of the global shipping industry - presented its plans to the sector's UN regulatory authority, the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The industry group called on governments to double the ambition of the IMO’s current target, which is to reduce emissions from international shipping by 50% by 2050, despite climate scientists warnings that global emissions must hit net-zero by the middle of the century.
Read more: A green future: How can the maritime sector work towards sustainability?
The ICS plans also include a compulsory R&D fund to develop zero-carbon technologies and the development of a carbon levy for shipping to expedite the transition to zero-carbon fuels.
Currently, ships run on low-grade, carbon-heavy fuel oil, which creates air pollutants and is difficult to substitute with cleaner fuels. Emissions from the shipping sector account for some 3% of the global total, though this is set to rise. Some predictions, put the 2050 total to 17% if the industry is left unregulated.
The ICS has made previous calls for a $5 billion "moonshot" research chest for the development of zero-carbon ships, which would be funded by a $2 per tonne levy on shipping fuel.
One of the more promising technologies to decarbonise shipping is hydrogen in ammonia form, which has shown potential as a shipping fuel. Any levy must be agreed upon by governments in order to be adopted by the IMO.
Read more: Yara Birkeland: the world's first autonomous, all-electric cargo ship
Esben Poulsson, Chairman of ICS, said: "Talk is cheap, and action is difficult. So, our net-zero offering sets out the ‘how’ as well as the ‘what’ for decarbonising shipping by 2050. We’re saying to governments that if they really want to reach net zero, they need to move from empty commitments to tangible action.
"A net-zero carbon ambition is achievable by 2050. But only provided governments take the unglamorous but urgent decisions needed to manage this process within a global regulatory framework."
The IMO is scheduled to meet ahead of the COP26 UN climate summit next month in order to discuss reducing emissions, though previous meetings of the body have made little headway.
Climate campaigners criticised the ICS plans, saying that they do not add up. The ICS opposed EU plans to extend the scope of its existing emissions trading scheme to cover the maritime sector. Such a move would have generated an estimated $70 billion over the next ten years, which could have been invested in developing green shipping tech.
Read more: UK government calls for zero-emissions shipping by 2050
John Maggs, of the campaign group Seas at Risk, told The Guardian: "ICS claims to support greater ambition, but then insists on a raft of provisions that can only weaken ambition and the industry’s response to the climate crisis.
"Focusing on CO2 alone ignores both black carbon emissions, which are responsible for 20% of the ship climate problem, and the growing problem of methane emissions from LNG-powered ships … ICS should be supporting the proposals [for zero emissions from shipping] already on the table at IMO, not trying to undermine them."
- Read the ICS net-zero proposals.
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