11 September 2023 (Lloyd's List) - THE shipping industry should bring forward green targets in both private and public sectors to align itself with the International Maritime Organization’s revised greenhouse gas strategy adopted in July, according to a new report that suggests the latter has now overtaken many national and industry steps.
The report, authored by maritime consultancy Umas, identified the IMO’s revised strategy as a “major leap forward in ambition” that has brought the industry’s transition from fossil fuels to sustainable renewable fuels into the 2030s.
“The IMO’s Revised Strategy creates a very clear onus for a rapid and strong upwards revision of corporate, national and regional actions.”
Umas recommended the shipping sector to factor in the IMO’s new targets that aim to reduce GHG emissions by up to 30% by 2030 and up to 80% by 2040 from a 2008 baseline.
It said that shipping should... “bring forward plans for national action to be particularly focused on the period from now to 2027/28, develop or align action on domestic shipping. Lower income countries with an opportunity in transition now have an urgent need to develop national strategies that can unlock the associated investment.”
There was also a reference to some of the climate targets the EU has recently set for shipping along with measures to help with such targets including shipping’s inclusion in the bloc’s Emissions Trading System and its renewable bunker fuel targets under the FuelEU Maritime legislation.
“The FuelEU standard needs to be revised to a higher stringency and consideration should be given to more equitable access and use of EU ETS revenues, as well as how these regional policies can support the IMO’s Revised Strategy and harmonise with the coming global measures.”
The FuelEU package sets a 2% sub-target for renewable hydrogen-derived marine fuels by 2034 if the total of such fuels in the bunker mix is below 1% by 2030.
Umas suggested the ETS policy increases the inequity of the transition by raising cost to developing country trade whilst transferring revenues to high income EU countries.
The IMO’s more ambitious targets could make green corridors invalid unless these are in place and running on zero or near-zero solutions significantly before 2030, according to the report that recommended public and private collaborations to bring forward green corridor strategies.
