Shipping Is Flying The Flag For Multilateral Climate Action: Why Aren’t We Celebrating Yet? - CleanTechnica

The article discusses the recent climate agreement reached by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the shipping industry. This deal, influenced heavily by Europe’s earlier regulatory actions, sets ambitious targets for 2030, 2040, and aims for net-zero emissions by 2050. For the first time, the IMO established a globally binding regulation with a mandate to reduce the carbon intensity of shipping fuels over time, coupled with a penalty pricing system for ships that fail to meet these targets. This represents a significant multilateral climate action milestone, as it introduces a sector-specific mechanism to generate revenues for decarbonization efforts. However, the article highlights major criticisms of the agreement. The deal is seen as insufficiently ambitious, exempting nearly 90% of shipping emissions from penalties and generating only about $10 billion annually—comparable to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) but on a global scale. More concerning is the agreement’s potential to