Danish shipping companies are requesting an ambitious agreement at the upcoming IMO MEPC meeting in London, and hope that the 176 countries represented can agree on climate regulation of international shipping that will set requirements for and make it more attractive to sail on alternative green fuels.
In 2023, IMO member states agreed on a historic agreement that global shipping should be climate neutral by around 2050. Since then, they have been negotiating the specific regulations that will drive the green transition of shipping. Danske Rederier (Danish Shipping) says that an agreement must be reached as the crucial negotiations begin.
Anne H Steffensen, Danske Rederier CEO said: “It must be cheaper to sail green compared to sailing on traditional fossil fuels. An agreement must include a model that reduces shipping emissions and significantly reduces the price gap between green and fossil fuels. It will also send a very clear signal to investors and producers that they can now get started on massively scaling up the production of green fuels.”
Difficult negotiations await. Countries with wildly different starting points and interests must bend towards each other and find a compromise that everyone can live with, and that at the same time delivers on the goal of climate-neutral shipping by 2050.
Steffensen continued: “Shipping accounts for approximately 3% of CO2 emissions worldwide. So it is a big task and a big obligation that we have. We must shoulder our share of the task. Our share of the responsibility. And we must do it in a way that ensures help, including financial help, to those countries that are being hit disproportionately hard by climate change.”
Among others, the so-called Small Island Developing States are particularly hard hit by extreme weather, rising sea levels and other climate changes.
Steffensen concuded: “I am proud that Denmark is at the forefront of the green transition of shipping. Both in the IMO, where the Danish delegation led by the Minister of Business and Industry and the Danish Maritime Authority is working hard to gather support for as ambitious an agreement as possible – and by the Danish shipping companies, who are frontrunners and have invested heavily in new ships that can sail on green fuels. We need an agreement that ensures that under no circumstances must it be a competitive advantage to not meet the reduction requirements. Continuing to sail on fossil fuels should not be rewarded. On the contrary, sailing green should become more attractive.”
Danish Shipping Companies are participating as advisors in the Danish delegation to the IMO, which is led by the Danish Maritime Authority.
Image: Anne H Steffensen, Danske Rederier CEO (source: Danske Rederier)
