HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — For years, the international shipping industry has been criticized for making little progress in reducing carbon emissions released from the fuels ships use to move most of the cargo people use every day, such as food. , cars and clothing.
Now the new head of the International Maritime Organization, charged with regulating international shipping, is subtly calling out inaction and urging companies to work harder. “What I notice is that more can be done,” says Arsenio Dominguez, who gave an extensive interview this week on the sidelines of the Hamburg Sustainability Conference in Germany. “The low-hanging fruit is there.”
Dominguez, who took over as secretary general early this year, said this includes using satellites to map routes based on weather, to waste less fuel, cleaning the hulls of ships to reduce friction in the water and what is often called slow steaming, which reduces ship speed, which also uses less fuel and therefore pollutes less.
Dominguez noted that many companies are working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which cause climate change. But achieving the IMO target of reducing emissions by 30% by 2030 requires immediate implementation of every option.
A focus on the fuels that power ships
Ultimately, major decarbonization will mean an overhaul of marine fuels, Dominguez says, a point industry leaders agree on.
Today, most ships run on heavy fuel oil, which releases carbon dioxide, along with sulfur, nitrogen and other pollutants. Many cleaner fuels already exist and many more are being developed, such as hydrogen, ammonia and biofuels. But they are more expensive, not yet widely available and only better for the planet if they are made in a clean way. For example, hydrogen can be made from water and clean energy through a process called electrolysis, and it does not release greenhouse gases. It is considered “green” hydrogen. However, almost all hydrogen today is made from methane, that is, natural gas, using steam methane reforming, which releases carbon dioxide.
“Fuels, fuels, fuels,” said Bud Darr, executive vice president for maritime policy and government affairs for MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, when asked during a panel at the Sustainability Conference on Monday what the biggest challenges were in decarbonization.
“We need a massive scale-up of both production and shore-based infrastructure to deliver what we need to operate the new generation of ships and equipment we are investing in,” Darr said in a follow-up email.
Currently, the shipping sector is responsible for approximately 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Their total emissions are expected to rise sharply in the coming decades unless major changes are made.
Other parts of the global economy have made progress in decarbonization thanks to electrification, including electricity and land transport. Relatively little has happened in shipping.
“The IMO has been very slow,” said Bastien Bonnet-Cantalloube, an expert on shipping and aviation decarbonization at the nonprofit Carbon Market Watch. “There was no progress in 10 or 15 years. Now things are starting to pick up.”
Last year, the IMO set a target of achieving net-zero emissions in or around 2050, a goal that could be a potential catalyst while highlighting how far the industry still has to go.
The IMO is being pushed to move partly towards a carbon tax, to align with what is already happening in some places, such as the European Union.
From this year, large ships entering and leaving European ports will pay taxes on their CO2 emissions. In 2026 they will also pay for the emissions of the greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide. Some industry leaders hope that an IMO carbon tax, which would effectively be the world’s first global carbon tax, could allow shipping companies to simply pay one carbon tax, rather than taxes in multiple jurisdictions.
Yet there is great disagreement, both between countries and shipping companies, over a tax, how much it should be and what the revenue should be used for.
The IMO is heading towards potentially major decisions next year
At meetings earlier this month in London, the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee continued drafting text on mandates to phase in cleaner fuels and establish a greenhouse gas pricing mechanism. But what these principles will translate into is far from clear.
“I don’t call it a tax. I know this is a way to refer to it,” Dominguez said, underscoring the sensitivity of the issue.
Dominguez said delegates, member states of the IMO, have considered multiple scenarios for assessing the carbon efficiency of ships, setting fuel standards and collecting revenue for emissions.
The committee will next meet in April, when it is expected to approve the measures. Formal approval would take place in the fall, and whatever is decided would not come into effect until 2027, giving countries and companies time to adapt.
In the meantime, Dominguez said shipping companies should do everything they can to reduce emissions, including for some using liquefied natural gas as fuel.
Marine engine manufacturers had shown that using LNG in engines increased efficiency, leading to lower emissions, he said.
“If we stop LNG right now without an alternative, we will go back to Square 1,” he said, adding that he knew it was “a divisive issue.”
In fact, scientific studies have shown that leaks of LNG, which is composed largely of methane, which is itself a potent greenhouse gas, can negate any benefit from cleaner combustion compared to other fossil fuels. Environmentalists have long argued that using LNG is simply a way for major oil and gas producers to continue business as usual, delaying a major transition to renewables.
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