During an interview with the SAFETY4SEA team at Nor-Shipping 2019, Kirsi Tikka, Executive Vice President, Global Marine, ABS, shared her views on why decarbonization has become one of the biggest challenges for shipping.
When asked how she would describe the status of shipping with respect to sustainability, Dr. Tikka said that, from an environmental point of view, ‘shipping is an incredible form of transportation.’
International shipping emits less than 3% of total CO2 emissions in the world, while it transports 90% of the world’s trade
However, as the trade is forecasted to grow, as well as waterborne transportation, emissions will increase as well, if shipping carries on business as usual.
In addition, Dr. Tikka gave her insight on what will be the biggest shipping challenges up to 2030 regarding sustainable shipping. As she explained, meeting the IMO emission targets for CO2 reduction is of great concern which actually means the reduction of CO2 emissions per cargo transport by 40% until 2030.
It will require shipping to take some action to get there
Kirsi Tikka highlights.
Concluding, SAFETY4SEA asked Dr. Tikka how the shipping industry can contribute towards a robust sustainable development.
The necessary ‘regulatory process to develop the revised IMO GHG Strategy is going to be very complex’, she commented, adding that it is very important for the industry to engage in this process early on, in order to achieve the best possible regulation.
