Shipping’s progress towards decarbonisation

The ‘Climate Action in Shipping Report – Progress towards Shipping’s 2030 Breakthrough’ assesses progress towards its 2030 breakthrough goals and states that there is “significant progress, especially in terms of commitments by industry, national governments, and positive developments at the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The 5 per cent goal can be viewed as a breakthrough needed to rapidly scale uptake of SZEF (scalable zero emission fuels) and achieve zero emission shipping by at least 2050”

Led by Katharine Palmer, shipping lead for the UN High level Climate Champions team, and Dr Domagoj Baresic, research associate at UCL Energy Institute and Consultant at UMAS – UCL Energy Institute’s maritime consultancy wing, evaluated the 2030 breakthrough goals against key levers for change, which include: technology and supply, finance, policy, demand, and civil society action.

This was supported by The Getting to Zero Coalition – an industry led Coalition of more than 200 members from across the maritime value chain in partnership with the World Economic Forum and the Global Maritime Forum.

While the report finds that shipping is making good progress in decarbonising, it does also state that “actions towards this 5 per cent goal can be considered as being partially on track” and “more is needed to bring us to 5 per cent and beyond, not just in terms of commitments, but also in terms of converting those commitments into concrete developments.”

Currently, there are at least 203 shipping decarbonisation pilot and demonstration projects in the pipeline, according to the report.

“Internationally, progress has been observed regarding bunkering and safety guideline developments. However, moving from pilots to SZEF production commitments, investments, and infrastructure development is now a key requirement. Current estimates in line with IMO Initial Strategy ambitions put the total additional capital needed for shipping’s decarbonisation at US$ 1-1.4 trillion, with over 80 per cent of this figure upstream (e.g., associated with infrastructure investment)” the report states.

In terms of policy to facilitate SZEF uptake, the study finds that developments are also partially on track. Several industry announcements regarding SZEF safety rules have been made and there have been an increasing number of calls for shipping to align with a 1.5°C trajectory.

According to the report, from an IMO perspective, progress has been made regarding shorter term measures, as well as a consensus on pricing GHG emissions.

Domagoj Baresic, research associate at UCL Energy Institute and Consultant at UMAS, said: “In order for the shipping industry to decarbonise, multiple actions which can increase production and adoption of scalable zero emission fuels in the industry are required now.”

“This report provides evidence for the significant progress which has been made to decarbonise shipping, yet at the same time shows that further significant action is required. The evidence presented shows now is the time to take the necessary actions to ensure that by 2030 the industry is committed to a decarbonisation trajectory.”

Download the report here