How can the shipping industry decarbonise and reduce its environmental footprint? This is among key questions being asked at the 79th Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC79) that kicked off in London on Monday. 

South Africa is a major maritime player on the African continent because of its long coastline of 3,000km, and because of its position along the sea trade route. According to the department of transport, Durban’s port is the busiest in Africa and the largest container facility in southern Africa. 

The country’s port status comes at a cost, however, as South Africa holds the highest shipping emissions on the continent at 9,244 kilotons of carbon dioxide (ktCO2). The second-highest shipping polluter is Egypt at just over half of South Africa’s emissions, at 5,204 ktCO2. Therefore, it is in the interest of South Africa to lower its emissions in light of the country and continent’s vulnerability. 

The industry as a whole has set a target to cut all shipping emissions by 2050, however, there have been calls for a midterm target to lower emissions by the year 2030. This call is especially urgent with international shipping being rated the seventh-biggest global emitter in 2018, placing the industry just below big polluting countries such as China, the US and India. 

Chair Harry Conway at the opening of the 79th Session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee at the International Maritime Organisation, 12 December 2022. (Photo: Flickr / IMO)

What is on the MEPC79 agenda?

The committee’s 79th gathering hopes to discuss matters such as making amendments to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (Marpol), the shipping industry’s pollution prevention of the marine environment. 

Under Marpol, member states are hoping to place limits on sulphur oxide pollution, address the garbage record books for smaller ships and the protection of Arctic waters, as well as ensuring that oil-based fuels delivered to ships are below 60℃ to avoid combustion and maintain ship safety. 

Also on the agenda is the discussion of energy efficiency of ships, air pollution prevention, ballast water (fresh seawater used to provide ship stability, but can be harmful when species in that water are carried across the globe) management, and sensitive sea areas.

Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, Kitack Lim at the opening of the 79th Session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee at the International Maritime Organisation, 12 December 2022. (Photo: Flickr / IMO)

What are the likely outcomes? 

This meeting is expected to discuss and pave the way for the adoption of more progressive objectives towards decarbonising the shipping industry and further the agenda of revising the initial International Maritime Organization (IMO) greenhouse gas strategy. 

“Essential work must be completed to set the path for the decarbonisation of the shipping industry, in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement,” said Kitack Lim, secretary-general of the IMO. 

The committee will also work towards building a consensus around which alternative and cleaner fuel the shipping industry should have. Ships currently make use of residual fuel; a low-value byproduct of the distilling process of petrol. 

A going alternative seems to be the use of ammonia as a fuel, while biofuels also seem to be making the rounds — but this is yet to be finalised or adopted by the floor of member states.  

IMO secretary Arsenio Dominguez at the opening of the 79th Session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee at the International Maritime Organisation, 12 December 2022. (Photo: Flickr / IMO)

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Who are the main players?

The 175 member states (countries) participate in the committee meeting, alongside NGOs and global organisations such as the World Bank. Major flag states — countries that ships want to register their flag with, for reasons such as lower levies, less strict regulations on shipping etc — do however have quite a holding on the process. These flag states include Panama, Liberia and the Marshall Islands. 

With 94% of ships built in China, Japan and South Korea, these countries also hold some weight in these negotiations. 

Pushing for a progressive stance by the shipping industry has been an ambition for nations such as Solomon Islands and Marshall Islands. The climate-vulnerable islands have, since around 2015, proposed a $100 carbon levy to ensure that polluters pay but also as a measure to limit emissions. There are also hopes that countries will move closer to adopting a carbon levy, though the move is not expected to be concluded at this MEPC, with the levy amount still to be debated. 

A general view of the opening of the 79th Session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee at the International Maritime Organisation, 12 December 2022. (Photo: Flickr / IMO)

Is South Africa present and what is its stance? 

South Africa is in attendance at MEPC79, with Deputy Minister of Transport Sindisiwe Chikunga attending the first day. 

The rest of the delegation consists of South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) members and some representatives from the Department of Transport. The team is led by Sipho Mbatha, alternate representative to the IMO. 

In an address to other member states, South Africa said that the country was committed to decarbonising shipping and supported the revision of the greenhouse gas strategy. The country added, however, that the basket of measures — mechanisms for carbon pricing and intensity — should be assessed, among others. 

A fund for developing countries 

Lim, secretary-general of the IMO — an arm of the United Nations and the body hosting the MEPC meetings — announced at the opening of the session the establishment of a Voluntary Multi-Donor Trust Fund that would assist small island developing states and least developing countries to attend MEPC meetings. 

Developing countries were visibly absent from the in-person gathering, although some states participated virtually. 

Another global talk on climate: why should you care? 

Globally, the shipping industry emits 1 billion tonnes of emissions annually. With the urgent need to lower emissions within 1.5℃ of pre-industrial levels as per the Paris Agreement, it’s imperative that industry adopts ambitious climate change actions. 

A coalition of NGOs has called for immediate action on short-term pollutants from shipping such as black carbon and methane that can, according to the studies, eliminate more than 21% of the industry’s emissions at a rapid rate. 

John Maggs, president of the Clean Shipping Coalition, said in a statement that the science was clear, with shipping emissions needing to halve by 2030. 

He added: “A strong absolute emissions reduction target for 2030 is essential to send an unambiguous signal to industry and investors that the race to decarbonise shipping has well and truly started. Without that signal, most will continue to sit on their hands while emissions and temperatures rise and the climate crisis deepens.” DM/OBP