The Global Maritime Forum (GMF)’s Getting to Zero Coalition has released an insight brief to shed light on the ways compliance mechanisms influence voluntary book-and-claim-enabled activities, using the FuelEU Maritime (FEUM) regulation as a case study.
FuelEU Maritime GHG Provisions and Scope
Taking effect in 2025, the FEUM legislation is part of the EU’s ‘Fit for 55’ package. It aims to stimulate the demand for, and consistent uptake of, renewable fuels to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the shipping sector while ensuring the smooth operation of maritime traffic and avoiding distortions in the internal market.
The regulation applies to all ships and voyages subject to the EU MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification) maritime regulation. Geographically, this corresponds to 100% of intra-European Economic Area (EEA) voyages and 50% of extra-EEA voyages.
By requiring vessels to decrease the average GHG intensity of their fuel use by 2% relative starting in 2025 and gradually reaching an 80% decrease by 2050, FEUM makes switching to cleaner fuels the most direct means for a company to meet emissions reduction requirements and avoid penalties.
Key considerations as presented by Getting to Zero Coalition:
The existing book-and-claim-enabled offerings have processes that differ from each other, such as different methods of emissions calculation or verification processes, and there may be potential inconsistencies between FEUM and the technical implementation of emerging approaches.
Emerging book-and-claim systems should seek to design systems that align with the standards that will be set by FEUM and other international regulations, as this will be key in streamlining processes and bridging any potential inconsistencies.
Still, the biggest hurdle in incorporating information about additionality in book-and-claim systems persists due to the lack of a widely accepted interpretation of additionality in the shipping decarbonisation context.
Converging on a common definition and standardised additionality criteria will be crucial to making book-and-claim systems workable and credible in an era of emerging regulation.
In the meantime, the sector can begin to work on the development of robust and interoperable monitoring and verification systems that enable data-sharing and transparency between compliance and voluntary markets.
