Shipping steers a tentative carbon-free course

DESPITE considerable obstacles, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) earlier this month adopted an initial strategy on the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships and set out a vision to reduce GHG emissions from international shipping. This was in response to increasing pressure on the industry to commit to slashing and eventually eliminating its GHG output to reflect the objectives of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The vision confirms IMO's commitment to reducing GHG emissions from international shipping and, as a matter of urgency, aims to phase them out as soon as possible in this century. Under specified "levels of ambition", the initial strategy envisages for the first time a reduction in total GHG emissions from international shipping which, it says, should peak as soon as possible. It also aims to reduce the total annual GHG emissions by at least 50 per cent by 2050 compared to 2008, while, at the same time, pursuing efforts towards phasing them out entirely.

The strategy, agreed by IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee, includes a specific reference to "a pathway of CO2 emissions reduction consistent with the Paris Agreement temperature goals".