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IMO Approves Ban on Heavy Fuel Oil in the Arctic

18 June 2021

IMO Approves Ban on Heavy Fuel Oil in the Arctic

 

 

In a vote at the conclusion of the Marine Environment Protection Committee's 76th meeting, delegates approved a measure to ban the use of heavy fuel oil in Arctic waters. When including waiver provisions, the ban will enter into full effect in eight years.

 

The committee declined to take up measures to reduce Arctic emissions of black carbon (soot), a pollutant that accelerates the melting of ice and contributes to warming.

 

MEPC also declined to introduce enforceable measures to reduce total CO2 emissions from shipping, instead requesting shipowners to bring down their per-mile carbon intensity by about 8-11 percent by 2023 (initial accounts of the meeting vary). The target is substantially lower than the 22 percent reduction requested by the U.S. delegation, which voted against the measure.

 

"As if this lack of action on black carbon was not enough bad news for the Arctic region, the package of ‘short-term energy efficiency measures’ to reduce greenhouse gas emissions agreed on by IMO Member States at MEPC 76 is as good as useless," said John Maggs, senior policy advisor at environmental NGO Seas at Risk. "The measure contains no enforcement mechanism and the level of ambition, a 1.5 percent annual improvement, was deliberately calibrated to be the same as what has happened historically and in the absence of regulation."

 

According to Maggs, it would take a seven percent annual improvement in ship efficiency in order to achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. 

 

In a statement, IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim expressed satisfaction with the meeting's outcome. "I am very pleased that [MEPC] has lived up to expectations and delivered short term measures that will take us towards our goals," said Lim, addressing delegates in a closing statement Thursday. "I wish to sincerely thank you for the very robust engagement at this session . . . The path to decarbonization is a long, but also a common path in which we need to consider and respect each other’s views. We have made a considerable amount of progress since the start of our journey."

 

Accelerating regional efforts

 

Four years ago, Lim criticized the European Union's plans to impose its own regional regulations on vessel carbon emissions, saying that an EU regulatory regime would undercut IMO's international consensus-building efforts. He repeated his concerns about EU regulation before the start of MEPC 76, cautioning delegates that "if we fail in our quest, it is not unreasonable to conclude that we run the risk of having unilateral or multilateral initiatives."

 

Last year, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to include shipping - which accounts for 13 percent of all EU emissions - within its carbon-credit market, the Emissions Trading System (ETS). The European Commission has not yet announced specific plans for how to implement this requirement; the impact on the industry hinges on whether the EC chooses to incorporate overseas voyages in the calculation.

 

Recent reports have suggested that the EC has been considering relatively limited measures, but the nature of its plans may change after MEPC 76, according to EU delegate Jytte Guteland. Speaking to Reuters, Guteland said that the EU "gave the IMO all the opportunity [to regulate carbon] and it was not taken." She added that "the outcome of this conference must be a signal to the European Commission that they need to create a very strong ETS" for shipping.

 

The EC is expected to release its ETS plans in mid-July, and legislative implementation is scheduled for 2022-23.

PUBLISHED JUN 17, 2021 3:23 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

Comments (0)


Today
8:03am
Hi Jenna! I made a new design, and i wanted to show it to you.
8:03am
It's quite clean and it's inspired from Bulkit.
8:12am
Oh really??! I want to see that.
8:13am
FYI it was done in less than a day.
8:17am
Great to hear it. Just send me the PSD files so i can have a look at it.
8:18am
And if you have a prototype, you can also send me the link to it.

Monday
4:55pm
Hey Jenna, what's up?
4:56pm
Iam coming to LA tomorrow. Interested in having lunch?
5:21pm
Hey mate, it's been a while. Sure I would love to.
5:27pm
Ok. Let's say i pick you up at 12:30 at work, works?
5:43pm
Yup, that works great.
5:44pm
And yeah, don't forget to bring some of my favourite cheese cake.
5:27pm
No worries

Today
2:01pm
Hello Jenna, did you read my proposal?
2:01pm
Didn't hear from you since i sent it.
2:02pm
Hello Milly, Iam really sorry, Iam so busy recently, but i had the time to read it.
2:04pm
And what did you think about it?
2:05pm
Actually it's quite good, there might be some small changes but overall it's great.
2:07pm
I think that i can give it to my boss at this stage.
2:09pm
Crossing fingers then

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