Shipping could succeed in halving greenhouse gas emissions in this decade, a new survey by the CE Delft consultancy reads. The survey was carried out at the behest of Clean Shipping Coalition.

The results come in connection to next week’s decisive summit at UN’s International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) climate committee. Here, the industry needs to agree on a string of central elements for a global mitigation strategy for the shipping industry.

According to the new survey, the industry could slash 36-47 percent off its current emission levels by 2030, without affecting global trade.

The survey posits that halving the greenhouse gas emissions would be equivalent to shutting down 121 coal power plants.

”The industry can achieve this reduction by implementing existing technologies and solutions, such as wind-assist propulsion, slowing vessels down, and deploying 5-10 percent of zero-emission fuels by 2030,” a report statement reads.

Scientists: More expensive to wait

IMO currently aims to halve global fleet emissions by 2050 and then push for net-zero as quickly as possible.

However, several industry stakeholders and policymakers says that the IMO targets are far too unambitious. They call for the industry to reach net-zero by 2050 and for more ambitious intermediary targets for both 2030 and 2040.

University College London has reached a conclusion that for every year stalling the maritime industry’s green transition, the industry will pay another GBP 100m for global fleet decarbonization.

The merchant fleet hauls upwards of 90 percent of global cargo and annual emissions amount to roughly one billion tonnes of CO₂, which equivalents approx. 3 percent of the world’s combined carbon emissions.

The IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee is the 80th of its kind and takes place in London from July 3-7.

Clean Shipping Coalition is comprised by a cluster of NGOs, including Transport & Environment, Seas at Risk and Carbon Market Watch.

English edit: Simon Øst Vejbæk