The US commitment to absolute zero, not net zero, can be a political game changer for the shipping industry

Summary - The US wants the global shipping industry to reduce its CO2 emissions to zero by 2050, announces the country's special presidential envoy for climate, John Kerry. That target is considerably more ambitious than that of the IMO, which is to reduce CO2 emissions by at least half by 2050. The United States will join Saudi Arabia as the only two countries to formally pledge to work toward the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) greenhouse gas strategy.

Watch Special Envoy Kerry’s announcement in this video (he enters the stage at around 13 minutes).

Committing to absolute zero

Shipping has been waiting, expecting environmental legislation to tighten up. The industry was served its marching orders yesterday with John Kerry, Joe Biden’s climate envoy, calling for the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to guide the industry towards zero emissions by 2050, a 180 degrees change in attitude from the previous administration in Washington.

Speaking at a conference hosted by the Ocean Conservancy, ahead of Biden hosting an international climate summit this week, Kerry said: “I want to announce that in support of the global effort to keep us in reach of 1.5 degrees Celsius and in support of global efforts to achieve net zero by no later than 2050, the United States is committing to work with countries in the International Maritime Organization to adopt the goal of achieving zero emissions from international shipping by 2050.” Current IMO goals calls for emission cuts of at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels. These targets are up for revision at the UN body in two years time.

Commenting on the Kerry announcement, Madeline Rose, climate campaign director at San Francisco-based NGO Pacific Environment, said: “The United States has committed to a historic goal of pursuing an absolute zero-emission shipping industry by 2050. The US commitment to absolute zero, not net zero, can be a political game changer for the shipping industry.”

Technologies are known

Kerry told the conference that the US will help deploy the technologies needed to rapidly reduce the sector’s emissions. "The technologies that we need to decarbonize shipping are known to us so they need investment and they need to be scaled up," Kerry said. "It's incumbent on all nations to send a clear signal to the industry so they will make those investments in the near future". An overview of several key technologies with their estimated CO2 reduction potential is shown below.

How much emissions does the shipping industry produce?

The global sector emits 1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide each year, according to the Ocean Conservancy, on par with Germany's annual emissions. Having the United States engaged and actively aiming for absolute zero should help to make big changes in the sector. And that help is needed.

As it stands now, the United States will join Saudi Arabia as the only two countries to formally pledge to work toward the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) greenhouse gas strategy. The hope is that other countries will also join in the new wave of global initiatives announcing their own efforts to accelerate commitments to decarbonization and reducing GHG emissions.