Global Shipping Climate Deal Edges Closer: IMO Member States Urged to Hold Line
LONDON: Ahead of this week’s meeting of the International Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (IMO, MEPC 84, April 27-May 1), the Clean Shipping Coalition welcomed progress made during last week’s intersessional meeting and called on member states to “hold the line against those looking to once again disrupt and delay” on the IMO’s Net-Zero Framework (NZF).
The coalition is also calling for the meeting to expedite work on the revision of the IMO’s flag-ship energy efficiency measure, the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII), for adoption of the North East Atlantic Emission Control Area, and for progress to be made on addressing the impact of plastic marine litter.
Net Zero Framework
The IMO’s Net-Zero Framework is aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships, in line with the 2023 GHG Strategy. The NZF includes a global fuel standard (GFS), requiring ships “to gradually reduce how polluting its ship fuel can be (i.e. how much greenhouse gas is emitted for each unit of energy used, across a fuel’s life cycle)”. It also includes a mechanism for setting prices on the GHGs ships emit, to encourage the shipping industry to lower emissions as per the global fuel standard.
See all relevant IMO papers submitted by eNGOs to MEPC 84
During the Intersessional Working Group on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships (ISWG-GHG 21, April 20-24th) meeting, IMO member states successfully continued to lay the groundwork for the adoption of the Net-Zero Framework (NZF) later this year, providing the greater clarity some member states requested during October’s MEPC/ES.2.
“During the intersessional meeting, we were pleased to see member states actively engaged in working out the details of the Net Zero Framework, countering the claims from the framework’s opponents that the IMO is a ‘house divided’, said Delaine McCullough, President of the Clean Shipping Coalition and Ocean Conservancy’s Shipping Program Director. “Although there are differences on some of the details, IMO member states worked constructively to seek resolutions. While we welcome the progress achieved, during MEPC 84, IMO member states must hold the line against those looking to once again disrupt and delay. The Net Zero Framework is imperfect, but is the fruit of years of negotiations and compromise, and has broad support among IMO member states. It includes technical and economic elements that are essential for allowing the IMO and the shipping industry to meet their commitments in the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy–both to address the shipping sector’s climate impact and ensure that every country can fully participate in the shipping energy transition – without being harmed by it. Agreement on anything less than what is currently on the table would be a climate failure and a political dead end.”
During MEPC 84, IMO member states have three opportunities to ensure that progress is made towards slashing GHG emissions from shipping, minimising fuel burn and the overall cost of the energy transition. The first is to strengthen and make enforceable the Carbon Intensity Indicator, the IMO’s cornerstone energy efficiency measure. The second is to ensure the Net Zero Framework (NZF) is not watered down on its way to adoption. Third is to make sure the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) guidelines include sustainability criteria that account for biodiversity and human rights impacts, real world emissions factors for methane-based fuels, and reflect GHG emissions of indirect land use change caused by production of biogenic fuels.
“To address its significant climate impact, the shipping sector must transform both how it uses energy–dramatically improving efficiency –and the type of energy it uses, shifting to wind propulsion, electricity and new zero-emission fuels”, said John Maggs, the Clean Shipping Coalition’s Representative at the IMO. “Pricing GHG emissions is the linchpin for enforceability and closing the price gap between the dirty fossil fuels the industry runs on and zero-emission energy. Critically, the fee sets a clear and predictable price signal for industry actors and generates funds that are needed to incentivize the energy transition and ensure no countries are left behind, particularly small island developing states and least developed countries.”
”Recent geopolitical instability may give the illusion that we are all reliant on fossil fuels but that is simply not true: shipping can and must decarbonise”, said Anaïs Rios, Senior Shipping Policy Officer, Seas At Risk. “During MEPC 84, countries must come together to support a strong Net-Zero Framework, including dedicated funding for those who need it most, and we are relying on the EU to stand united. Delaying or watering down the very regulation designed to clean up shipping leads us down a dangerous path towards weak action that comes too late. The ocean, the climate and ultimately, the people, will pay the price.”
“The Net-Zero Framework, shaped over years of negotiation and compromise, enjoys broad support from member states. During MEPC 84, countries must resist any attempts to delay or derail progress on shipping decarbonisation“, said Jenny Helle, Policy Expert at Carbon Market Watch. “Weakening the framework at this stage is not an option. Countries must ensure a fair transition to cleaner shipping, making sure no one is left behind. Providing dedicated support for those most in need is non-negotiable. It has to be part of the deal.”
Nexus of the Triple Planetary Crisis
“MEPC 84 arrives at a crucial moment for our planet and the marine sector”, said Elissama Menezes, Co-Director of Equal Routes. “The decisions taken during ISWG-GHG 21 have the potential to advance key agendas at the nexus of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. We are looking to this Committee to re-establish a Correspondence Group on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) sustainability criteria that puts social equity and fuel sustainability at the heart of shipping’s energy transition, and to adopt an LNG default emissions factor that is conservative and globally representative to account for significant upstream methane leakage. As decarbonization advances, we call on all IMO Member States to uphold the precautionary principle and ensure that principles of justice and equity remain non-negotiable.”
“As the Net-Zero Framework moves to adoption, a focus should be on cutting black carbon emissions from shipping impacting the Arctic through new MARPOL regulations, rapid adoption of wind propulsion, improving efficiency, and strengthening and enforcing the Carbon Intensity Indicator”, added Andrew Dumbrille, Co-Director of Equal Routes. “In all this work, we call on all IMO Member States to ensure shipping does not transition at the expense of the most vulnerable.”
“The current oil crisis shows that fossil fuels are not only polluting, they are also far from the reliable cheap energy they are made out to be”, said Felix Klann, Shipping Policy Officer at Transport & Environment. “At the IMO, countries have the opportunity to stand up to those who want to keep the shipping industry locked in fossil fuel dependency, and get the energy transition back on track. Progressive countries, including the EU, need to find unity and fight for an ambitious deal for climate. Anything else would be bowing to Trump and his petrofriends.”
Emission Control Areas
“During MEPC 84, IMO member states are expected to adopt the world’s biggest emission control area, in the North East Atlantic – doing so will be great news for the environment, people’s health and the climate”, said Sönke Diesener, Senior Policy Officer at NABU. “Coastal states must not let last October’s postponement – during a turbulent IMO meeting – distract them from the task at hand. The new ECA will connect existing European and North American ECAs, delivering a huge sea area where low sulphur fuels and cleaner technologies must be deployed.”
“We encourage the inclusion of the remaining EU waters to deliver the same standards of air pollution regulation and likewise a level playing field for industry”, said Diesener. “Moreover we urge policy makers worldwide to include air pollution reduction in maritime strategies to benefit people and nature. As assessment studies show again and again the costs are marginal and outpaced multi times by health costs and environmental damage savings.”
Marine Litter
“MEPC 84 represents a critical moment for addressing plastic pollution from maritime activities – a decision must be taken on the appropriate IMO instrument under which to advance mandatory measures for the transportation of plastic pellets, an issue of growing and serious environmental concern”, said EIA Ocean Campaign Leader, Christina Dixon.
“The Clean Shipping Coalition strongly believes that MARPOL is the appropriate instrument for this work, as it is specifically designed to prevent pollution from ships”, added Dixon. “While some member states are advocating for SOLAS, we are concerned that this would mischaracterise the issue by framing pellet loss primarily as a safety matter, rather than the significant environmental challenge it clearly represents.”
“The Clean Shipping Coalition welcomes the proposal for voluntary reporting of lost fishing gear as a useful interim step”, said Dixon. “However, it is essential that such measures do not replace or delay progress toward robust mandatory requirements. Despite sustained interest from members on this issue, work on fishing gear has lacked sufficient momentum. We are calling on IMO member states to ensure that efforts on gear marking and reporting are given the time and priority needed to deliver meaningful progress for the world’s oceans at this meeting.”
