Members of the European Parliament and other stakeholders have been briefed about the Initial IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG emissions from ships, which was adopted in April. Moreover, the measures that may be taken to implement the initial strategy, including possible short term measures, were described.
IMO’s Edmund Hughes outlined the key elements of the initial strategy, which sets a commitment to eliminate GHG emissions from international shipping as soon as possible in this century.
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Furthermore, Mr. Hughes mentioned a specific linkage to the Paris Agreement and a series of significant levels of ambition including at least a 50% reduction in total annual GHG emissions from the sector by 2050 compared to 2008.
The Initial Strategy identifies levels of ambition for the international shipping sector noting that technological innovation and the global introduction of alternative fuels and/or energy sources for international shipping will be integral to achieve the overall ambition. Reviews should take into account updated emission estimates, emissions reduction options for international shipping, and the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC ). Levels of ambition directing the Initial Strategy are as follows:
1. carbon intensity of the ship to decline through implementation of further phases of the energy efficiency design index (EEDI) for new ships
to review with the aim to strengthen the energy efficiency design requirements for ships with the percentage improvement for each phase to be determined for each ship type, as appropriate;
2. carbon intensity of international shipping to decline
to reduce CO2 emissions per transport work, as an average across international shipping, by at least 40% by 2030, pursuing efforts towards 70% by 2050, compared to 2008; and
3. GHG emissions from international shipping to peak and decline
to peak GHG emissions from international shipping as soon as possible and to reduce the total annual GHG emissions by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 whilst pursuing efforts towards phasing them out as called for in the Vision as a point on a pathway of CO2 emissions reduction consistent with the Paris Agreement temperature goals.
