Op-Ed: Three GHG Meetings in London Can Transform Shipping

 

The International shipping sector provides an outsized and growing contribution to the climate crisis, already causing around 3% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions - shipping’s annual emissions are about as much as a major industrial country like Japan. Using slower, cleaner, more efficient ships to move freight around the world can help slash climate emissions - but this will not happen without ambitious regulation from the International Maritime Organization

In early April, a three-leg summit at the International Maritime Organization’s London HQ must set the course for how the IMO will regulate the shipping sector to reduce its climate heating impact. 

Governments must use this crucial two-week window to slash shipping’s climate heating greenhouse gas emissions. This means securing agreement on a strong energy efficiency measure (the Carbon Intensity Indicator), enforceable and ambitious global fuel standards, and a greenhouse gas levy on all shipping emissions that will dramatically reduce the sector's contribution to the climate crisis.

First up, a two-day meeting will focus on the global fuel standard and greenhouse gas levy (ISWG-GHG-19). This will be followed by a three-day Intersessional Working Group on Air Pollution and Energy Efficiency (ISWG-APEE 1), which will address the revision of the IMO’s Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII). 

Clear, enforceable fuel/energy standards will catalyze the shipping industry’s transition to clean energy. By incentivizing early investment in wind power and zero-GHG fuels, these standards will reduce emissions and spur the creation of green jobs and resilient economies worldwide.

Holding polluters accountable via a greenhouse gas emission levy would provide a clear market signal to drive emission reductions and ensure a just and equitable transition to clean shipping. The resulting revenue can be used to support vulnerable nations and ensure all can play a part in the energy transition. More than 60 countries already support such a levy, and the Clean Shipping Coalition is calling for a robust, stand-alone levy of at least $150 per ton of GHG to provide the necessary funding for an equitable transition.

The Carbon Intensity Indicator is the IMO’s tool for measuring and enhancing a ship's energy efficiency, expressed in grams of CO2 emitted per cargo-carrying capacity and nautical mile. The CII is key to creating more energy-efficient ships and cutting emissions in the short term, but should also be seen as a long-term tool specifically calibrated for improving and maintaining onboard operational efficiency and to suppress fuel burn to the greatest extent possible.

By the time the gavel comes down at the end of the following week’s MEPC 83 - the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee, member states should have agreed to an ambitious set of new climate measures, including a global zero- and near-zero GHG fuel standard, along with a levy on ship emissions that will drive emission reductions and ensure a just climate transition for international shipping. The fuel standard and levy must align with a revised Carbon Intensity Indicator that takes effect without delay, to ensure it can credibly and usefully contribute to the 2030 IMO GHG Strategy targets. 

The agreed CII must quantify and raise ship efficiency, while fostering greater transparency and driving deep and lasting reductions in pollution - moving the sector towards a just and equitable lowest-cost transition to zero emission shipping. This revision should maximize the operational efficiency of ships now and in the future, drive down fuel burn for the long-term, and actively favor the primary use of wind and solar for ship propulsion.

Delaine McCullough is Ocean Conservancy’s Shipping Emissions Policy Manager and President of the Clean Shipping Coalition.