Shipping faces tough decarbonisation choices

Supply chains will be critical as the maritime sector looks for alternative fuels

Shipping accounts for significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the industry is accelerating its efforts to meet ambitious UN decarbonisation goals. But it remains unclear which competing solution—or combination of solutions—will prevail. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is targeting a 50pc cut in GHG emissions from shipping by 2050, relative to 2008 figures, and wants to slash the sector’s carbon intensity—the amount of CO2 emitted per ton-mile—by 40pc by 2030 and 70pc by 2050. A coalition of IMO member states —which together control a major share of the world’s shipping tonnage and include Greece, Liberia, Japan, Malta, Switzerland and Singapore—propose the organisation