Letter

After the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) disappointing agreement for measures to decarbonise international shipping, it falls to states, and the shipping industry itself, to drive maritime decarbonisation.

SASHA Coalition Founder & Director, Aoife O’Leary, wrote to the Department for Transport, HM Treasury and the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) urging the UK government to fill the gaps left by the IMO agreement, and amplify the progress it did deliver.

The UK showed strong support at IMO negotiations for the most ambitious proposals championed by small island developing states (SIDS) and climate vulnerable countries, in particular Pacific Island, Caribbean, and African states. Now the government must carry that ambition forwards when putting into practice its recent Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy in this new regulatory landscape to demonstrate global climate leadership on shipping and capture the opportunity for growth that innovation in the sector has to offer.

The letter to the Department for Transport recommends the government:

1. Extends the scope of the maritime ETS to cover international shipping. 

The Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy rightly commits to pricing shipping emissions domestically by including maritime in the ETS and internationally by pushing for a global universal emissions levy at the IMO. With this ambitious levy now off the table, the UK must extend the ETS to cover 50% of international maritime emissions. 

2. Sets targets for uptake of green hydrogen maritime fuels. 

The domestic fuel regulations announced in the Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy is a hugely welcome first step towards cutting emissions, but these standards must be used to obligate the use of the lowest emission fuels, green hydrogen fuels and derived e-fuels, and disincentivise non-solutions like biofuels and LNG. 

3. Introduces stringent emissions monitoring and accounting methods. 

A robust and transparent monitoring, evaluation, verification and reporting system that comprehensively accounts for a fuel’s full lifecycle emissions, including nitrogen pollution, is critical for ensuring all environmental impacts of conventional and alternative fuels are understood and factored into clean maritime policy. 

4. Continues to push for ambitious regulation at the IMO. 

This should include working towards (1) a more stringent ZNZ fuels definition, (2) a targeted reward mechanism for e-fuel adoption, and (3) a robust lifecycle analysis methodology that accounts for all climate, including from indirect land use change (ILUC) in biofuel production.