MEPC 82: Need urgent action on CII revision and mid-term measures – Clean Shipping Coalition

The IMO should urgently act on the carbon intensity indicator (CII) revision, a global fuel standard (GFS) and a GHG levy to help shipping meet its interim GHG targets, the Clean Shipping Coalition urged.

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The Clean Shipping Coalition (CSC) is a global alliance of shipping industry experts and policymakers from the IMO and climate non-profits like Transport & Environment (T&E), Seas at Risk and Carbon Market Watch.

It has called for the IMO to implement mid-term measures including an economic measure like a levy for shipping GHG emissions and a technical measure like a global fuel standard.

“There’s no time to waste on false solutions—the IMO member states must adopt a comprehensive and fully integrated set of efficiency, fuel and energy emission standards, and carbon pricing policies,” the CSC president, Delaine McCullough demanded.

The GFS should promote wind-assisted propulsion and zero-emission fuels while discouraging the use of biofuels, which are "not scalable and would delay investments in true solutions," Constance Dijkstra, IMO policy manager at T&E said.

The coalition also endorsed a higher GHG levy. A $150/mt GHG levy will deter the use of fossil bunker fuels and generate revenues for “a just and equitable” climate transition, explained Bastien Bonnet-Catalloube, shipping decarbonisation expert at Carbon Market Watch.

“It would also reinforce the CII and the GFS, by driving early investments in energy efficiency and wind technologies and spur the development and deployment of zero-emission fuels,” Bonnet-Catalloube added.

A study by DNV estimates shipping could generate $776-982 billion between 2027-2050 through a global fuel standard with targets to gradually reduce the well-to-wake (WtW) GHG fuel intensity of marine fuels and a levy of $150-300/mt CO2-equivalent.

The CSC also stressed that the shipping regulator must revise the CII by 2026 "without delay.” The revision must maximise vessel efficiency, reduce long-term fuel consumption and promote wind- and solar-assisted propulsion, according to CSC’s McCullough.

“Such policies will ensure the shipping sector maximises energy efficiency to immediately cut emissions, drive the uptake of onboard wind and solar propulsion and investment in scalable zero-emission fuels, and guarantee an equitable and just transition to zero-emission shipping”, she concluded.

By Konica Bhatt

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