Shipping industry on track to cut emissions : IMO Secy Gen

SINGAPORE : The Head of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is “very confident” that the shipping industry is on track to finalise by next year how it will reach goals to reduce greenhouse emissions.

“Everything is moving in accordance to the timetable, and then we will make the decisions in 2025,” Mr Arsenio Dominguez told reporters in an interview on April 19 to wrap up the Singapore Maritime Week.

The global shipping industry is aiming to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, and has set emissions targets for 2030 and 2040.

These targets are up from those set out in 2018, which called for a 50 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions and had no absolute emission reduction targets for the years before 2050.

IMO had announced its revised strategy to cut greenhouse gases in 2023. The measures that will be taken in the intermediate term are due to be approved in 2025, and come into force in 2027.

Net-zero emissions mean the overall balance of greenhouse emissions produced is equal to the amount of such emissions being taken out of the atmosphere. Mr Dominguez, who became IMO’s Secretary-General on Jan 1, 2024, said the agency is working with external consultants to analyse the impact of different scenarios for the industry to achieve its target.