EMEA News
Hopes for Tougher Action on Shipping Emissions Riding High
"Be ambitious and bold" representatives of the working group tasked with looking at how best to curtail emissions from ships were told by International Maritime Organisation secretary-general Kitack Lim at the start of their deliberations this week.
The Intersessional Working Group on the Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships (ISWG-GHG 15) is meeting at the IMO's London headquarters this week ahead of the organisation's environment committee meeting at the same venue next week (MEPC 80).
"You have already reiterated your commitment to finalize the revision of the initial strategy at MEPC 80," Lim said. "It is now time to work together on increasing the level of ambition for 2050 and establish the intermediate check points by 2030 and 2040," he added.
Lim told delegates that 2023 is the IMO's year of decisive climate action.
A range of measures are to be discussed this week and next as the organisation reworks its strategy on how to tackle greenhouse gas emissions from shipping, according to the IMO.
The report of the Correspondence Group on Marine Fuel Life Cycle GHG Analysis -- which looks at how emissions are worked out -- will be considered.
In addition, submissions related to onboard CO2 capture and its place within the regulatory framework will be covered at MEPC 80.
Lobbying delegates as they entered the building on June 26, local members of the environmental group Extinction Rebellion were calling for a tax on shipping as the only way to address the sector's emissions. "If a tax on shipping increases the price of goods, it would only begin to reflect the true cost of those goods in terms of emissions," an ER spokesperson told Ship & Bunker.
Among the economic elements to be considered by the working group and environmental committee are a levy, reward, feebate or flat rate contribution.
