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| Port of Hamburg |
According to a recent analysis by CE Delft, the worldwide shipping industry can reduce emissions by close to 50% by the end of the decade. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is poised to agree on climate targets to lower greenhouse gas emissions from ships in July, so these findings are timely.
According to the analysis, ships may reduce their emissions by 36-47% by 2030 when compared to 2008 levels by using 5–10% zero or almost zero emission fuels, wind-assist devices, and "climate-optimizing" their speed.
The analysis concludes that a 20–30% speed reduction from 2018 is necessary to achieve the emission reductions.
The study argued that these costs would be manageable and would be dwarfed by the cost of climate-related harms to the company and wider society if shipping failed to cut emissions. Adopting these measures would increase shipping prices by an average of 6–14%, according to the study. According to University College London, the cost of shipping decarbonization will increase by $100 billion for every year that this decade is wasted in inaction.
The study was ordered by Pacific Environment, Seas at Risk, Transport & Environment, and Seas at Risk.
"The science is crystal clear, emissions from shipping have to be cut in half by 2030 if we are to have any hope of keeping warming below the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C temperature limit," said John Maggs of Seas At Risk. Up until this point, it was unclear whether this was feasible without having an adverse effect on commerce. Now that we know it is not only feasible and shipping has a direct path to halving its climate effect by 2030, but it can also do it at a low cost, we can move forward with confidence.
Waiting until 2050 to decarbonize is similar to waiting until your house burns down before calling the fire department, said Fag Abbasov from Transport & Environment. This would be careless and deceptive. According to science, it is physically feasible to cut emissions in half by 2030, and prices are reasonable.
The 80th session of the Maritime Environment Protection Committee meeting will begin next week, and thetransporteronline24 will be providing readers with updates from that meeting.
