Maritime industry backs UN’s $5 billion programme to decarbonise shipping

March 11, 2021: Responding to the UN Secretary-General’s call for urgency and ambition on climate change, the entire global shipping industry is giving full and unequivocal backing to a moon-shot proposal submitted by governments, to catalyse the complete decarbonisation of maritime transport by deployment at scale of zero-carbon ships within a decade, announced World Shipping Council.

The proposal, being submitted by governments controlling a major share of the world’s shipping tonnage to the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) is to establish a $5 billion IMO Maritime Research Fund using mandatory contributions from the world’s shipping companies. 

This new $5 billion fund will support a new International Maritime Research and Development Board (IMRB) to commission collaborative programmes for the applied research and development R&D of zero-carbon technologies, specifically tailored for maritime application, including the development of working prototypes. It will also assist CO₂ reduction projects in developing countries, including Pacific island nations.

The shipping industry is urging all governments to approve this mature moon-shot proposal – led by major shipping nations including Georgia, Greece, Japan, Liberia, Malta, Nigeria, Singapore, Switzerland – at a critical IMO meeting in London in November 2021, which will coincide with the next UN Climate Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow. This is the only fully detailed proposal available to deliver the speed and scale called for by UN Secretary-General, António Guterres. Failure by UN member states to support this initiative could significantly set back progress towards the decarbonisation of shipping.

Decarbonisation can only take place with a significant acceleration of R&D, as zero-carbon technologies do not yet exist that can be applied at scale to large ocean-going ships. A well-funded R&D programme, which the industry has agreed to pay for within a global regulatory framework, needs to commence immediately under the supervision of the UN IMO.

Recognising the urgency and ambition required to decarbonise, shipping industry groups are calling for all governments to be on the right side of history in supporting this ambitious proposal.

International shipping transports more than 80 percent of global trade and emits 2 percent of global emissions. The big challenge is not building a single zero-carbon ship, the big challenge is creating the technologies needed to decarbonise the entire global fleet at speed and scale. The sooner the IMO Maritime Research Fund is established, the sooner industry can develop zero-emission ships to decarbonise maritime transport.