The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is one of several organisations backing a proposal of a new program to help decarbonise the international shipping industry.
The global maritime transport industry has submitted a proposal to form the world’s first collaborative shipping research and development (R&D) program to help eliminate CO2 emissions.
The proposal includes core funding from shipping companies across the world of roughly US$5 billion ($7.3 billion) over a 10-year period to accelerate the development of commercially viable zero-carbon emission ships by the early 2030s.
International maritime transport carries around 90 per cent of global trade and is currently responsible for approximately two per cent of the world’s anthropogenic CO2 emissions.
Shipping’s global regulator, the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO), has responsibility for regulating the reduction of CO2 emissions by international shipping.
The shipping industry is proposing the establishment of an International Maritime Research and Development Board (IMRB), a non-governmental R&D organisation that would be overseen by IMO member states.
The IMRB will be financed by shipping companies worldwide via a mandatory R&D contribution of US$2 ($2.90) per tonne of marine fuel purchased for consumption by shipping companies worldwide.
The shipping industry’s proposal will be discussed by governments in London at the next meeting of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee in March 2020.
You can check out the full proposal here.
Featured image supplied by CLIA.
