Countries gather to discuss greening the shipping sector
The 176 member states of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the United Nations agency responsible for regulating maritime transport, are gathering in London from Monday until Friday to discuss the greening of the shipping industry. On the table are binding measures to become climate-neutral by 2050, although the details have yet to be ironed out.
Like the aviation industry, the shipping sector falls outside the framework of the Paris Climate Agreement. However, the sector, which currently still largely runs on highly polluting heavy fuel oil, is responsible for about 3 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Back in July 2023, the IMO adopted a strategy to become climate-neutral by 2050. Exactly how that path should be followed still needs to be agreed, however.
One of the issues on the table is a pricing mechanism for greenhouse gas emissions and a fuel standard for the use of alternative, emission-free fuels. What the money should be used for, however, is still unclear. On the one hand, it could help make emission-free fuels cheaper. However, poorer countries also hope that the money can (partly) be used in their fight against climate change.
Stance of the US
If the 176 countries, including the United States, manage to reach an agreement, it would be the first sector to set itself binding reduction targets.
With Donald Trump at the helm in the White House, the Americans' stance during the negotiations is uncertain. However, analysts are hopeful, given that the US has only a limited merchant fleet and shipping is pre-eminently a global industry.
Illustration © BELGA PHOTO Spencer Platt / Getty Images / AFP
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