Report shows shipping slip on net zero targets

The report, ‘Progress Towards Shipping’s 2030 Breakthrough’, was compiled by the UCL Energy Institute, UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, and the Global Maritime Forum’s Getting to Zero Coalition. According to the authors, the key finding is that the sector is not on track to have zero-emission fuels account for five per cent of the fuel mix by 2030 – a vital net zero stepping stone set out by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The report states that production of scalable zero-emissions fuel (SZEF) currently in the pipeline could end up covering less than half of the fuel needed to hit the 2030 target. Elsewhere, the current order book of SZEF-capable vessels would only deliver around 25 per cent of required SZEF demand by the same year. Finance for clean fuels is also now off track due to a slowdown in SZEF funding and more investment in fossil-fuelled vessels.

"The speed at which the shipping industry adopts hydrogen-derived fuels will shape the success and the cost of this transition for decades to come,” said report author Dr Domagoi Baresic, research fellow at the UCL Energy Institute.

“Extensive adoption of such fuels by 2030 remains within reach but will require significant and immediate action by policymakers, fuel suppliers, and the shipping industry over the next 12 months. Without such action, the transition will be much longer, costlier and have a less positive environmental impact. All the ingredients for a rapid adoption already exist, but it is up to the relevant actors to make it a reality."

Of the 35 actions required to deliver the 2030 breakthrough, only eight are considered ‘on track’, while 13 have been classed as ‘off track’ – up from eight in last year’s edition of the report. The remaining 14 are only ‘partially on track’. However, the report also claims that meeting the 2030 goal is still achievable if action is stepped up.

“There is no time to waste, and we must see a big shift in momentum over the next 12 months to bring our 2030 targets within reach,” said Jesse Fahnestock, director of Decarbonisation at the Global Maritime Forum.

“With such long lead times to implement policy, and finance and build vessels and energy supply chains, the window of opportunity is only open by a crack – but importantly, it is still open. This report must act as a serious wake-up call to the industry to accelerate the transformation we need to see in the sector.”