The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) is calling for tougher emissions reduction targets for the shipping industry.
Ahead of next month's UN Cop 26 climate conference in Glasgow, the ICS has urged the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to set a target for net zero emissions by 2050. The IMO's current target is for a 50pc reduction in overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 compared with 2008 levels, and for a 70pc cut in CO2 emissions over the same timeframe.
Given the typical lifespan for an oceangoing ship is 25 years, thousands of zero-emissions vessels will need to be at sea by 2030 in order to meet net zero in 2050, the ICS said. Net zero by 2050 in shipping is achievable but only if governments around the world agree to certain measures that the IMO can regulate, according to ICS chairman Esben Poulsson.
The ICS, which represents 80pc of global shipping, wants the IMO to establish a $5bn fund by 2023 to pay for research and development of green technology and marine fuels. It suggests that this is funded by a $2/t levy on all marine fuel purchases across the globe, rather than taxpayers' money. The IMO agreed last year to consider such a fund, which was originally proposed by the ICS in 2019. And at the IMO's latest Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting in June, it agreed to discuss the proposal further at its next meeting in November.
Separate to the research and development fund, the ICS is also calling on the IMO to implement a tax on purchases of heavy fuel oil bunkers to help close the price gap between current marine fuels and future green fuels. Argus assessed the price of 0.5pc sulphur fuel oil, the most widespread bunker fuel, at $562/t in the world's biggest bunker port, Singapore, in the last week of September. By comparison, green ammonia and LNG were assessed at five times and nearly three times that price, respectively, in northwest Europe. Green ammonia is not yet used in any vessels but is considered a leading zero-carbon fuel candidate for the future, while LNG usage as a bunker fuel is growing significantly.
The IMO has previously said that it will consider a $100/t tax on fuel oil bunker purchases, but not until its meetings in 2022 and 2023.
