A new carbon reduction initiative linking large corporate companies with the IMO and other UN agencies hopes to ease the road to low carbon shipping.
Known as the Global Industry Alliance for Low Carbon Shipping, it will take a similar model to the IMO’s Globallast GIA public-private partnership which targeted issues related to implementing the ballast water convention.
While the ballast water convention has been criticised heavily by industry, the Globallast GIA was largely seen as a proactive way to raise awareness and help resolve issues related to the conventions implementation
The Low Carbon GIA will sit inside the GloMEEP (Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnerships), a project funded by GEF, UNDP and the IMO. Its purpose is to support the uptake and implementation of energy efficiency measures for shipping, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
There are 13 companies from the maritime industry that are backing this particular GIA:
- ABB Engineering (Shanghai)
- DNV GL
- Lloyd’s Register
- MarineTraffic
- MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company
- Ricardo UK
- Royal Caribbean Cruises
- Shell International Trading and Shipping Company
- Silverstream Technologies
- Stena AB
- Total Marine Fuels
- Wärtsilä
- Winterthur Gas & Diesel
In a statement the IMO said
“the GIA partners will collectively identify and develop innovative solutions to address common barriers to the uptake and implementation of energy efficiency technologies and operational measures. Focusing on a number of priority areas including energy efficiency technologies and operational best practices, alternative fuels, and digitalization, activities likely to be undertaken or promoted by the Alliance will include, inter alia: research and development; showcasing of advances in technology development and positive initiatives by the maritime sector; industry fora to encourage a global industry dialogue; and the implementation of capacity building and information exchange activities”
The GIA and GloMEEP follows on from the IMO initiative to open five Maritime Technology Cooperation Centres around the world following a €10m grant from the European Union to help achieve a global increase in low carbon shipping.
The creation of the alliance is timely as it comes as the IMO is working on a roadmap to create reductions on shipping’s carbon dioxide emissions. The launch of the alliance was during a closed-door intercessional meeting at the IMO to discuss potential greenhouse gas reduction strategies. The work will be presented at next week’s MEPC meeting.
Fathom-News
