Lowering shipping carbon emissions It’s a long and winding road to decarbonisation, as TREVOR CRIGHTON reports
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nternational Energy Agency research shows that road transport accounts for 15 per cent of total CO2 emissions. That’s as the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) reports sea freight is responsible for 2.5 per cent of global emissions. This makes decarbonisation – the process of lowering the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by the burning of fossil fuels – high on the green agenda, with the IMO aiming to reduce shipping carbon emissions by at least 40 per cent by 2030 compared to 2008 levels. By 2050, the aim is less 70 per cent, compared to 2008. As Nikol Hearn, CFA, analyst at Marine Capital, says the IMO’s current strategy involves multiple steps. “The IMO has adopted mandatory measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from international shipping under International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) – the Energy Efficiency Design Index mandatory for new ships, and the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan,” she says.
“In January 2020, the IMO established a global sulphur cap of 0.5 per cent, forcing the use of low-sulphur fuel or the installation of scrubbers to ‘clean’ higher-sulphur fuels.” Nikol The IMO has also Hearn established a series of baselines for the amount of fuel each type of ship burns for a certain cargo capacity. “Ships built in the future will have to beat that baseline by a set amount, which will get progressively tougher over time,” says Hearn. “By 2025, all new ships will be 30 per cent more energy efficient than those built in 2014.” She adds that South Africa has appeared to signal participation in the IMO’s strategies by joining in the
“By 2025, all new ships will be 30 per cent more energy efficient than those built in 2014.” – Nikol Hearn
organisation’s GreenVoyage2050 Project, which seeks to speed up implementation of shipping decarbonisation measures.
Charting a greener course The Sea Cargo Charter, meanwhile, was developed in 2020 with the goal of reducing shipping’s total annual GHG emissions by at least 50 per cent by 2050. “The SCC enables consumer pressure on charterers to utilise low carbon emission ships, as signatories will measure the GHG emission intensity and total GHG emissions of their chartering activities on an annual basis, and will assess their climate alignment relative to established decarbonisation trajectories,” says Hearn. Cost remains a barrier to reducing emissions in the industry, with Hearn citing the lack of initiatives in enacting change as tied to the way shipping experiences split incentives: the perennial problem being the pass-through of cost versus benefits.
SHIPPING FACTS • 90 per cent of the world’s goods are transported via a ship at some stage of their production cycle. Per tonne of cargo moved, it remains by far the most efficient mode of transport. • The UN estimates the total cost of decarbonising sea freight to be R23.6-trillion by 2050. Source: ec.europa.eu, smithsonianmag.com
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F R E I G H T, L O G I S T I C S & W A R E H O U S I N G
2021/05/20 10:01 AM
