MEPC 80: EU member states push for progressive checkpoint GHG targets

The EU member states have proposed a phase-out of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from shipping by 2050 at the latest, an EU official tells ENGINE.

PHOTO: The IMO's 80th Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting at IMO HQ this week. IMO

Interim GHG reduction targets for 2030 and 2040 will set a pathway to shipping decarbonisation, the EU official says.

At last week's IMO working group meeting, EU member states proposed a 29% GHG reduction target for 2030 and 83% for 2040, compared to 2008 levels.

They are in favour of aligning interim GHG targets with the climate targets set in the Paris Agreement in 2015 to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Interim targets will increase adoption of new decarbonisation technologies and uptake of low- and zero-carbon fuels in shipping, the EU official argues. Eventually, these targets will be embedded in shipping companies' business strategies.  

EU member states have called for a GHG strategy that is not limited to curbing carbon dioxide emissions only. And they have pointed out that global IMO policymaking has moved at a slower pace than at the regional EU level.

The EU has come out with its own set of regional policy measures to reduce shipping emissions. Earlier this year, the EU included shipping in its Emissions Trading System (ETS), which will start to put a price on carbon dioxide emissions from ships from next year.

Some, like IMO member Japan and IMO observer Intertanko, argue that regional policy measures such as these have undermined the IMO's role.

By Nithin Chandran

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