EU Support Grows for IMO Decarbonisation Research Fund Proposal

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday March 15, 2021

European Union support for shipping industry groups' proposal to impose a $2/mt levy on bunker sales to fund decarbonisation research is growing, with Denmark adding its name to the list of countries backing the idea.

Denmark has joined Georgia, Greece, Japan, Liberia, Malta, Nigeria, Palau, Singapore and Switzerland in supporting the proposal, container industry body the World Shipping Council said in an emailed statement on Monday.

The proposal, an updated version of which was submitted to the IMO last week, is to use a small levy on bunkers to build up a $5 billion fund to help the shipping industry pay for research into zero-carbon fuels.

"We expect several other nations to voice their support for the proposal at the next meeting of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee in June," the World Shipping Council said in the statement.

"The GHG reductions required to meet the IMO's 2050 50% reduction and zero-carbon emissions goals will only be achieved if technologies are developed that enable ships to use the zero-carbon fuels that are critical to a transition in the sector.

"There are several potential solutions, but the technologies to use these fuels do not yet exist in a scale or form that can be applied to large transoceanic ships. 

"A host of complex technical questions remain to be answered."

Ship & Bunker News Team
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