A new report by Ocean Conservancy and Pacific Environment details how the US can completely eliminate emissions from the shipping industry in the next fifteen years.
The report, ‘All Aboard: How the Biden-Harris Administration Can Help Ships Kick Fossil Fuels’, calls on the Biden-Harris administration to commit to achieving a zero-emissions shipping industry by 2035 and provides 20 specific policies that create a roadmap for how the US can realistically move towards zero-emission fuels and ships, clean and renewable sources of onshore power at US ports.
The policy should require progressive cuts in CO2 equivalents (CO2e) — 50% by 2025, 80% by 2030, and 100% by 2035. That would prevent 213 million metric tons of CO2e from entering the atmosphere by 2035 and every year thereafter.
In addition to achieving lifesaving emissions reductions, this US policy aims to create positive ripple effects globally, helping force the development of a zero-emission vessel market and accelerate zero-emission research, development, and demonstration across the maritime supply chain. This is in line with a recent statement by US climate envoy John Kerry, who called on IMO to lead the industry towards zero-emissions by 2050, rather than a 50% cut in emissions which is the current goal.
For too long fossil fuels have had a chokehold on the shipping industry and that’s come at the expense of our ocean, climate and planet. A zero emissions future for the shipping industry in the U.S. is entirely within our grasp, and our report plots a new course for the Biden-Harris Administration to holistically tackle the challenges posed by the greenhouse gas emissions from the sector,
…said Dan Hubbell, manager of Ocean Conservancy’s shipping emissions campaign.
The report highlights that the US can only reach its goal of zero-emission shipping with zero-emission fuels, with the best options being green hydrogen, green ammonia, fuel cells, batteries, and wind. The solutions not recommended are LNG, methanol, biofuels, nuclear and solar.
Policy Recommendations
-Environmental Justice recommendations
- Set U.S. policy to decarbonize shipping by 2035.
- Set a federal zero emission ship standard.
- Eliminate in-port ship emissions by 2030
- Require biannual port emissions inventories to ensure compliance.
- Establish an Environmental Justice Ports Advisory Commission
-Clean Shipping recommendations
- Require ships report their fuel consumption and emissions
- Bring down costs of electric and zero-emission fuel solutions relative to fossil fuel.
- Increase federal funding for zeroemission vessel innovation
- Ban scrubber systems in U.S. ports and waters.
- Develop green marine highways for domestic ports
-How We Get There recommendations
- End public financing of fossil-fuel maritime projects, including LNG development, storage, or export/import infrastructure at any U.S ports.
- Create a Zero-Emission Ports Infrastructure Fund. For ports to reach zero-emission targets and to prepare them for zero-emission ships will require significant investment.
- Establish a short-term Zero Port Pollution Tax
- Focus the zero-emission transition on the U.S. fleet and workforce
- Establish a national Ocean Ranger-style environmental enforcement program
-International Action recommendations
- Include emissions from international maritime transport in the U.S.’ nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement.
- Embark on ‘Green Shipping Corridors’ with major trade partners, looking to ports as hubs for the clean energy transition
- Center frontline port and freight corridor communities in global shipping debates.
- Advance evidence-based principles for evaluating the climate credentials of alternative marine fuels and policies
- Increase U.S. climate ambition and environmental justice leadership at the IMO.
The shipping industry emits an estimated 1 billion metric tons of CO2 each year. If it were a country, the shipping industry would be the sixth-largest emitter, ahead of Germany. On its current trajectory, maritime trade is projected to grow by as much as 130% by 2050 over today’s trade volume.
By tackling shipping emissions here at home, the U.S. can set the international standard for ocean-based climate action and assert pressure on the International Maritime Organization, the international governing body for the shipping industry, to adopt more aggressive emissions reduction goals,
…the report reads.
EXPLORE MORE BY READING THE FULL REPORT
