London: The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) on Friday agreed on a “flexible” net zero target of 2050 actively propagated by the developing nations, with a net zero goal “by or around” that is closer to 2050 and a clause reading “if the national circumstances allow”.
The IMO agreeing on a considerable reduction of the Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) in the global shipping industry, which is at present a major contributor to climate change with one billion tonnes of emission per year, went softer on the strict net zero targets by 2050, which was actively propagated by the developed nations and some of the island nations.
The member states, however, have agreed to the indicative checkpoints of reducing emissions at least by 20 per cent, striving for 30 per cent by 2030, and at least 70 per cent, striving for 80 per cent by 2040.
“The adoption of the 2023 IMO Greenhouse Gas Strategy is a monumental development for IMO and opens a new chapter towards maritime decarbonisation. At the same time, it is not the end goal, it is in many ways a starting point for the work that needs to intensify even more over the years and decades ahead of us,” IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim said.
Most of the developing nations had been lobbying for the mid-century target — could be 2051, 2052 or 2053, insisting on not strictly fixing 2050 as the year for achieving net zero.
The shipping industry accounts for almost 3 per cent of global emissions. The shipping industry is crucial to global trade carrying up to 90 per cent of commercial cargo. But ships use some of the most carbon-heavy fuels to power their engines.
The civil society organisations, while accusing IMO of failing to align the shipping industry with the 1.5 degrees Celsius target, said the level of ambition agreed is far short of what is needed to be sure of keeping the global heating below 1.5C.
The London-based IMO is a specialised agency of the United Nations which is responsible for measures to improve the safety and security of international shipping and to prevent pollution from ships.
The Maritime Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of IMO has also agreed on a goal to uptake zero GHG emission technologies, fuels and energy sources, “at least 5 per cent, striving for 10 per cent by 2030”.
The resolution for the GHG emission reduction adopted on the concluding day of the 80th Session of MEPC at the IMO headquarters also included a paragraph pressing on the need to pay attention to the plight of seafarers, who are now ill-equipped to handle green fuels, pressing the need to train the workforce.
India is the second largest provider of seafarers in the world.
The IMO has also renamed the financial levy as an “economic measure” and moved it to the basket of measures, despite strong opposition from countries like China and Brazil.
India, while congratulating the secretariat for achieving the milestone agreement, said: “Though this delegation still maintains its concerns over unrealistic targets, we convey our agreement to this document as India’s endorsement of the views of this organisation, that ‘sustainable development’ is the only way forward for the international community to address current climate change issues.”
The delegation highlighted the country’s stance on climate change-related discourse, pointing to the wide disparities between developed and developing countries, having contrasting contributions to the global environmental problems to counter climate-related issues.
“This has been the position of India in all fora of climate change negotiations, which now stands vindicated on this floor as well,” the delegation said.
India also thanked the Inter-sessional Working Group on GHG Emissions for explicitly addressing the human element, including the impact on seafarers and other maritime professionals in the safe implementation of the 2023 IMO GHG strategy.
The implementation of this strategy needs to be monitored by the IMO closely, India said.
According to Jose Matheickal, Director, Department of Partnerships and Projects, IMO, India already has a good example set in the right direction for decarbonising the shipping sector.
“India is partnering with IMO for a pilot project on green shipping called ‘Green Voyage’. India is also strong in the biofuel segment,” Jose Matheickal said.
Though all the member states described the 2023 IMO GHG strategy as a historic agreement, the climate NGOs are not happy with the levels of ambition set out.
“The IMO had the opportunity to set an unambiguous and clear course towards the 1.5C temperature goal, but all it came up with is a wishy-washy compromise, fortunately, the states like the US, the UK, and the EU don’t have to wait for countries like China, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia to act,” Faig Abbasov, Shipping Programme Director, Transport and Environment, said.
Many have agreed that the interim checkpoints are indeed good measures to reduce GHG emissions.
“To effectively mitigate the climate crisis, a unified, ‘all-hands-on deck’ effort is required. Particularly it is incumbent upon the historical contributors to this crisis to accelerate their climate commitments and support a just and equitable transition,” Harjeet Singh, Head of the global political strategy for Climate Action Network International, said.
“Shipping can stay within a budget aligned with well below 2 degrees Celsius if it can manage to hit the strategy’s 2030 and 2040 emissions reduction targets and achieve net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. Ultimately, it’s the measures the organisation takes to implement the strategy, such as GHG intensity standards for ships and fuels, as well as economic measures, that will determine how much international shipping contributes to future warming,” Dr Bryan Comer, Marine Programme Lead, International Council on Clean Transportation said.
