IMO adopts GHG emissions plan, 50pc cut: Update

Adds shipping industry quotes throughout

The global shipping sector has agreed to cut its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 50pc by 2050, under a strategy adopted by the UN International Maritime Organisation (IMO) today.

The IMO adopted the initial strategy during the 72nd meeting of its Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), which concluded in London today. It has until 2023 to approve a final strategy.

Of the organisation's 173 member states, only the US, Saudi Arabia and Russia declined to back the deal.

The strategy agreed includes a target to cut maritime GHG emissions by at least 50pc by 2050 compared with 2008 levels, as well potential measures to meet this goal.

Shipping associations Bimco and Intertanko both welcomed the agreement. Bimco deputy secretary general Lars Robert Pederson and IMO delegate said the target was "ambitious but not impossible", adding "now we have to focus on the mid-to-long term. We have to find the technology and procedures that will drive us towards zero GHG emissions".

But the target falls short of the 70-100pc emissions cut by 2050, which small island nations and countries including Germany, Belgium and France had pushed for in the negotiations, and which environment groups said is needed to deliver the UN Paris climate agreement's aim to limit the increase in global temperatures to 2°C.

But the wording of the text, which pledges to reduce emissions by "at least 50pc… while pursuing efforts towards phasing them out" leaves open the possibility to enhance this ambition.

The text "represents a strong middle ground", IMO secretary general Kitack Lim told delegates at the talks today.

It sends a signal that member states are tackling shipping emissions "with the same commitment you have given to the Paris agreement", he said.

"This deal keeps alive the ability for us to keep global temperature increases within the limits set by the Paris agreement," Marshall Islands environment minister David Paul said.

But he acknowledged that island nations vulnerable to the effects of climate change had "wanted something far, far more ambitious" than the deal agreed today.

The US and Saudi Arabia opposed setting an absolute percentage cut for the sector's emissions. Setting an absolute cut before the MEPC has collected further data on ships' fuel consumption would be "premature", US delegation head Jeffrey Lantz said.

The strategy agreed today laid out potential measures to reduce maritime GHG emissions. These could include improving energy efficiency measures for ships and establishing an existing fleet improvement programme. The IMO could consider the use of speed optimisation and speed reduction, and consider measures to reduce methane emissions, the text said.

MEPC should agree short-term measures by 2018-23, mid-term measures by 2023-30, and long-term measures beyond 2030.

The text outlined the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities", which acknowledges that developing and developed nations do not share the same obligations towards tackling climate change. The US and Saudi Arabia took issue with the inclusion of this principle.

The strategy adopted today averts the possibility that the IMO would miss its 2023 deadline to draw up an emissions reduction plan. Had it missed this deadline, the EU would have begun preparing regulations to reduce the sector's emissions.

Maritime transport makes up about 2.5pc of global GHG emissions, but this could increase by 50-250pc by 2050 as the sector grows, the IMO has said.

Although the developments will promote radical change within the shipping industry, more work needs to be done to satisfy more ambitious member states and shipping industry bodies. "More efforts are needed to materialise and implement the strategy adopted today, efforts which Intertanko looks forward to support and provide professional assistance for," Intertanko technical director Dragos Rauta said today.

The shipping and aviation sectors are not bound by targets under the Paris agreement, and are not covered by the EU's emissions trading scheme. But several shipping organisations voiced support for compliance with the Paris agreement in the future.