The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) said it remains confident that shipping will improve its carbon efficiency by at least 40% by 2030 compared to 2008, in line with the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) targets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The ICS issued the statement May 17 following important decisions made by the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 74) which met in London last week.
ICS Secretary General Guy Platten commented: “We welcome the adoption of important new IMO regulations to strengthen and bring forward the application of the Energy Efficiency Design Index for several different types of new build vessel, including containerships.”
He added that they hope to see further progress in developing more short-term measures to help the existing fleet reduce its emissions, and in IMO member states agreeing on some additional regulations during 2020 combining prescriptive and goal-based approaches to deliver further GHG reductions before 2023.
Platten added, “If this solid IMO momentum continues then the industry is on track to meet the 2030 target. Progress by the industry so far will be clearer after the conduct of the next IMO Greenhouse Gas Study, whose terms of reference were finalised [last] week.”
Hopefully, he said, this will confirm that the sector’s total emissions actually peaked in 2008 due to the technical and operational efficiency measures that shipping has taken since then to reduce its fuel consumption.
He further said that following the agreement of procedures to conduct assessments of the impacts of proposed GHG reduction measures on the economies of IMO member states, there was no reason why IMO should not be able to quickly agree on low-hanging fruit such as speed optimization measures.
“We believe that these can best be addressed in part through the ‘Super SEEMP’, as proposed by ICS and other shipowner associations—the mandatory external audit of Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plans as part of the ISM Code. This will require shipping companies to demonstrate they have done everything possible to improve fuel efficiency in pursuit of the 2030 target.”
He continued that there appeared to be widespread support among many member states for these proposals.
At the same time, it was also clear that most IMO member states “had little appetite at present for initiatives such as mandatory speed limits, expressing concern that these would reduce the efficiency of maritime transport, in effect increasing the distance between economies and their markets, while acting as a disincentive to the take-up of new CO2 reduction technologies.”
This is in reference to a new study by the European Commission which called for the quick adoption of short-term policy measures on speed limits in order to cut GHG emissions of ships.
The study showed that “only a subset of potential policy options, namely those that mandate changes in how the existing fleet is operated can achieve the significant effect required to meet the sector’s emission reduction objectives. Examples of these policies are speed limits or mandatory limits on operational efficiency or shaft power.”
Platten, meanwhile, also asserted the need for IMO to move quickly and consider the critical long-term measures that will help the industry to deliver the very ambitious target of a 50% total cut of GHG emissions by 2050 regardless of trade growth.
“This can only realistically be achieved with the introduction of commercially viable zero—or near zero—CO2 emitting propulsion systems, which means that accelerated research and development programmes have to be at the centre of the IMO strategy.”
Photo: ImagePerson
