Getting serious about zero CO2 emissions

IT IS interesting to see how the same event can generate very different reactions. On Friday the most recent, the 74th, session of the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 74) came to an end after a fortnight of deliberations at the UN agency's London headquarters.

One response was "International shipping on track to meet 2030 CO2 reduction target following critical UN IMO meeting". Another was: "IMO responds to climate emergency with two more weeks of procedural wrangling".

That second, highly critical comment came from Transport & Environment and Seas at Risk, from the Europe-based environmental campaign grouping Clean Shipping Coalition, who declared themselves to be "appalled at the complete lack of ambition shown by the IMO".

In a statement they complained: "Ignoring the climate emergency, IMO delegates wasted a critical two weeks session with procedural and process issues. There was little or no serious discussion on the merits of the various proposals for measures to deliver immediate emissions reductions before 2023, which have been submitted over the past six months. This week's time-wasting makes the timeline even harder to achieve, which means that the next meeting will have to be far more proactive and ambitious."

Bill Hemmings, aviation and shipping director at Transport & Environment, said: "Shipping is the only sector not subject to binding climate regulation and its remaining climate budget is fast being used up. Speed regulation is the most effective measure on the table, fortunately it will go forward for discussion at the next session. We have no time to lose, IMO procrastination must stop."

'Speed regulation' is what we used to call 'slow steaming'. I was corrected when I mentioned that term last week.

Nevertheless there have been calls over recent months to bring in speed limits as a quick way of achieving substantial CO2 emission reductions.

I was told by someone closely involved the discussions: "Slow steaming is not really a helpful term, it's the management of speed to optimise fuel consumption over the course of a voyage that's more important."

So what about the 'international shipping on track' comment. That came from the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) - which represents the world's national shipowner associations. It said after MEPC 74 that it remained confident that shipping would improve its carbon efficiency by at least 40 per cent by 2030 compared to 2008, in line with the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) targets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

ICS Secretary General, Guy Platten commented: "We welcome the adoption of important new IMO regulations to strengthen and bring forward the application of the Energy Efficiency Design Index for several different types of new build vessel, including containerships. We are keen to see further progress on developing more short-term measures to help the existing fleet reduce its emissions, and are optimistic that IMO member states can agree to some additional regulations, during 2020, combining prescriptive and goal-based approaches that will deliver further GHG reductions before 2023."

That is a different take from the environmental groups, of course, but significantly the shipowners also want IMO to do more.

Mr Platten concluded: "While short-term measures are important, ICS continues to assert that IMO needs to move quickly onto considering the critical long-term measures that will help the industry to deliver the very ambitious target of a 50 per cent total cut of GHG emissions by 2050 regardless of trade growth. This can only realistically be achieved with the introduction of commercially viable zero - or near zero - CO2 emitting propulsion systems, which means that accelerated research and development programmes have to be at the centre of the IMO strategy."

That statement is a stark illustration of just how much things have changed. Shipping is indeed on track for a zero CO2 emission future. It is the speed of progress that will be the cause of disputes.