CONTACT BIMCO
Christian Baekmark Schiolborg
Manager, Marine Environment
Copenhagen, Denmark
- +45 4436 6871
- hsse@bimco.org
The revised IMO GHG reduction strategy agreed during the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting (MEPC 80) in London on 7 July 2023 marks a new beginning of the efforts to limit shipping’s GHG emissions.
The strategy sets out several ambitions, of which the most significant are:
To clarify the pathway towards decarbonisation, the strategy further includes indicative checkpoints:
These indicative checkpoints will play a significant role when the implementing measures are developed. It is the intention that they form points on the trajectory towards the 2050 ambition of net-zero GHG emissions, and 2040 is only 17 years away. Ships being built now will be in service then. With mandatory measures also having been agreed to be developed by 2025 in order to implement the pathway, the industry faces some major changes.
It is agreed that one measure is a mandatory fuel GHG-intensity standard. It is intended to set limits for the GHG-intensity of fuel used by ships with increasing stringency year by year. Some kind of fleet averaging mechanism is also being considered to make it work in practice. However, with anticipated fleet growth between now and 2040, we may expect that the ship-average reduction of GHG emissions will be around 90% by then. Capability to burn zero GHG fuels is an issue for all to address now.
The fuel standard may be complemented by some kind of economic instrument to price the emissions. Details have not been decided but await a comprehensive impact assessment, also agreed at MEPC 80.
The mandatory measures will become take effect from 2027.
The BIMCO secretariat is of the firm belief that the revised IMO strategy is a game changer for the shipping industry, and it is important for all to understand its implications for both existing and new ships.
Download the IMO strategy (note that the text may not be final).
2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships 0.2 MB
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