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20. November 2020The VDR – Association of German Shipowners welcomes the progress made by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) regarding the implementation of the IMO climate protection goals. The VDR sees this as a significant advancement that will bring enormous pressure to the market.
(Hamburg) The member states of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) have taken a decisive further step towards implementing the IMO climate protection goals for ships worldwide. The Environmental Committee (Marine Environment Protection Committee, MEPC) of the IMO yesterday adopted specific short-term measures for ships to reduce CO2 emissions. “The far-reaching decision is a significant advancement in terms of the shipping industry’s contribution to the fight against climate change,” said Ralf Nagel, Executive Board Member of the Association of German Shipowners (VDR): “Global shipping is thus consistently on course for climate protection.”
The measures adopted at the MEPC meeting are in line with the short-term IMO goal that shipping worldwide must reduce its CO2 emissions by at least 40 percent by 2030 compared to 2008, measured against transport performance. They are set to take effect from 2023 and have, simply explained, technical and operational consequences for more than 50,000 ships currently in operation worldwide – not just new, under-construction, or planned units:
Decisions from 2023
- According to the new so-called EEXI (Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index), all ships worldwide must meet efficiency standards. They will be required to take mandatory technical measures to significantly reduce their CO2 emissions. A similar requirement has already been in place for new ships since 2013. The EEXI now obliges nearly the entire operating global trading fleet to be up to 50% more efficient from 2023, depending on the type of ship (measured against the current fleet).
- Additionally, the operation of ships will also have to align with strict CO2 emission values. Each ship will receive a rating of its CO2 intensity, categorized into five classes from A to E, similar to household appliances. The so-called Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) mandates that for ships rated D or E for three consecutive years, a catalog of measures must be developed to comprehensively save CO2. “The pressure to operate the most efficient ships in the market will be significantly increased by the CII, as it creates transparency for all market participants,” Nagel notes. This market dynamic is underestimated by critics of the decisions: “Who still buys a technical device with a poor efficiency class today?”
Long-term goal to halve global CO2 emissions
In addition to the short-term goal for 2030, the shipping industry had already committed through the IMO in 2018 to long-term halve its global CO2 emissions by the middle of this century. As of 2018, the shipping sector accounted for about two percent of global CO2 emissions, according to a recently published IMO report. Despite a 40 percent increase in global sea trade and more than a doubling of the world trading fleet’s tonnage between 2008 and 2018, carbon emissions decreased by ten percent during the same period because ships have already become significantly more efficient and lower-emission due to IMO decisions within this decade.
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