Shipping is not often the centre of the attention when it comes to climate action, but last week, it definitely was. At the global level, the Getting to Zero (GtZ) Coalition was launched, bringing together 13 countries (Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Palau, Morocco, Korea, Ireland, UK, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden and France), 82 major maritime companies and members of civil society, including the Environmental Defense Fund, to support deployment of zero emission vessels on deep-sea routes by 2030.
At the European level, the designee executive vice president of the European Commission in charge of the European Green Deal singled out aviation and shipping as two sectors in urgent need of effective policies and increased climate ambition.
And at the UK level, the very influential Committee on Climate Change (CCC) wrote to the Secretary of State for Transport, advising the UK government to cover emissions from international aviation and shipping within the UK’s 2050 net-zero commitment. In his letter, Lord Deben, the Chair of CCC, highlighted the strategic importance of addressing these emissions and argued that tackling them at the national level does not detract from any action at an international level. As the UK’s Secretary of State for Transport considers the CCC’s recommendations, we set out five reasons why these recommendations should be implemented.
1. Maintaining the UK’s leadership position: The UK has been a champion of tackling climate change for over a decade. The 2008 Climate Change Act, one of the earliest and most comprehensive climate change legislative acts, remains one of the most successful climate-related pieces of legislation worldwide. It defines the UK’s contribution to solving climate change, and it is the basis for concrete climate policy. It sets long-term targets that translate into near-term actions, which are recommended by an independent body, the CCC and then debated in Parliament. Earlier this year the UK became the first major economy to legislate for net zero emissions by 2050.
This domestic leadership is essential to spur international action. The UK is the home of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) – international shipping’s common rule setting body – and will host the annual global climate negotiations in 2020. Both provide opportunities for the UK to showcase its leadership on reducing emissions. By including emissions from international aviation and shipping (IAS) in its 2050 net zero target, the UK can advance ideas not only ahead of other countries, but also that work for other countries.
2. Expertise in policy development: It is not possible to exclude IAS from a net zero emissions commitment and reach net zero. It is necessary that these emissions are addressed at national and international level [1]. The UK has an impressive track record of introducing firm policies that enable the private sector to shift billions of pounds into clean energy projects (Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation, Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariffs and Electricity Market Reform, including Contracts for Difference to derisk investment, Renewable Heat Incentive, Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation).
It can apply the lessons learned from the transition in the power sector and work out how to achieve a similar shift to zero emissions ships using new policies agreed at the IMO and at home. Domestic shipping emissions are already included in the UK’s carbon budgets. We expect a government consultation on how the UK’s climate and energy policies can be adapted to incentivise investment in clean fuels in this sector in 2020.
3. Adapting existing capacity: Like the UK’s Clean Maritime Plan, which sets out the plan for a sustainable future for UK shipping, the CCC letter identifies green ammonia and hydrogen (i.e. fuels made from renewable energy or from fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage) as the main fuels for future clean shipping. A strong policy signal will allow the UK to drive the transition to sustainable shipping. Crucially, a successful zero carbon fuel policy also needs to ensure that green fuels are robustly accounted and generated without increasing emissions elsewhere.
The UK should start by creating a clean shipping hub to trial zero carbon fuels in selected segments of the maritime industry.
Existing infrastructure could be reformed and expanded to produce zero emission fuels such as green ammonia or hydrogen. In the UK, there are currently three ammonia plants – Ince, Billingham and Hull, with the latter two located close to the coast, with potential to be powered by renewable energy, ensuring future ammonia produced there is “green”. While currently these plants might not be “green” but rather “brown” ammonia, Siemens and Oxford University recently launched a demonstration project to manufacture green ammonia from electricity.
4. Economic development: Switching to zero carbon shipping will bring many new opportunities including jobs, investment and economic growth at home and abroad. As mentioned in our report Sailing on Solar, implementing zero carbon shipping can bring trillions of dollars in investment, especially to countries with abundant renewable resources.
Moreover, these benefits can be distributed in specific regions to drive their economic development. The UK provides considerable overseas development assistance and has just doubled its support to the Green Climate Fund. Targeted development spending could help some of the UK’s poorest trading partners develop port infrastructure and clean energy fuels for ships.
At home, the North East of England had the second highest rate of unemployment in the UK last year, just after Northern Ireland. Converting plants like Billingham, UK’s biggest ammonia plant, to green ammonia and investing in the local potential for renewable electricity to run them can create jobs in areas that desperate need them.
5. Health co-benefits: International transport is a significant and growing source of both climate changing gases and local air pollution – and the UK is in breach of its legal air quality limits. Without appropriate, ambitious action, aviation will become the most emitting sector in the UK [2] and shipping won’t be far behind. Tackling these emissions will ensure the UK is at the forefront of cleaning up these vital sectors - helping ensure the Paris Agreement objectives remain within reach and, importantly, reducing the burden of air pollution on our citizens.
[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02744-9
[2] On the basis of departing flights, see: https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Letter-from-Lord-Deben-to-Grant-Shapps-IAS.pdf