Member states support aligning GHG fuel standard with IMO's 2030 and 2040 targets – UMAS

The majority of IMO member states back a flexible GHG fuel standard linked with the IMO’s interim GHG reduction targets as part of the maritime regulator's planned mid-term measure, University Maritime Advisory Services (UMAS) said in a report.

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35 member states of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) voted in favour of calculating the GHG fuel standard (GFS) or “goal-based marine fuel standard” on a well-to-wake (WtW) basis, during the IMO's Intersessional Working Group on Reducing Ship GHG Emissions (ISWG-GHG 16) discussions, according to the report.

13 member states backed an adjusted tank-to-wake (TtW) approach for GFS calculations and 10 remained unclear about their positions.

Proposals for adjusted TtW suggested that initially, fossil-based alternative marine fuels and all biofuels will be counted as zero-GHG emissions. Eventually, higher well-to-tank emissions will be increasingly penalised to a point, where by 2040-2050 the adjusted TtW of all fuels will equal its WtW emissions factor, the report explained.

31 member states supported the use of a flexibility mechanism in which ships must meet a minimum level of GHG fuel intensity, and 13 opposed it.

Several flexibility mechanisms were discussed during this session. Compliance mechanisms aimed at penalising vessels that fail to meet emission reduction targets included credit trading between ships, GHG pricing such as an emissions trading system (ETS) and a pooling mechanism to allow ships to pool their emissions.

“The GFS has now for the first time, been linked to the 'interim checkpoints' of the revised strategy - meaning that the average ship can now certainly be expected to have a ~90% lower WtW GHG intensity by 2040 (in 16 years' time) than in 2008,” Tristan Smith, author of the report said.

The ISWG-GHG 16 meeting is the first phase of the three-phase discussion leading to the adoption of the IMO's mid-term measures. The next round of discussions is scheduled for September-October this year, with measures expected to be adopted next March.

By Konica Bhatt

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