DECARBONISATION

Coming up with new strategies to assist with reductions in carbon emissions is clearly essential and has sparked a number of new initiatives to assess exactly how ready the industry is for the new regime

ACTION ACROSS

THE BOARD

A new action plan, launched at COP 27 by UN organisations, shipowners and unions, has set out recommendations to upskill seafarers to meet shipping’s decarbonisation goals. The plan is in response to findings from new research, the modelling of which warns that as many as 800,000 seafarers will require additional training by the mid-2030s.

Currently accounting for 3% of global emissions, shipping needs to transition away from conventional fuels towards alternative low- and zero-carbon fuels and technologies to meet the world’s target of keeping global warming to 1.5C or less by 2050.

The three emission reduction scenarios assessed in the research highlight an immediate need to start putting the training infrastructure in place, to ensure hundreds of thousands of the world’s nearly two million seafarers are upskilled and empowered through the transition.

Findings also suggest that a lack of certainty on alternative fuel options is having knock-on effects for seafarer training, as the global maritime community works towards a clearer decarbonisation pathway in a postfossil fuel era.

The research was conducted by leading maritime consultancy DNV and commissioned by the Maritime Just Transition Task Force Secretariat. The Maritime Just Transition Task Force was formed to ensure that shipping’s response to the climate emergency puts seafarers and communities at the heart of the solution.

In response to the training challenge that the modelling lays bare, the Action Plan makes recommendations for industry, governments, seafarer unions and academia (including training providers). These recommendations include: » Strengthening global training standards » Ensuring a health-and-safetyfirst approach » Establishing advisory national maritime skills councils According to Stephen Cotton, general secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF): “All three

scenarios DNV identified require some form of retraining the workforce. The good news is that seafarers are prepared and willing to be part of this transition. But crew want to know that the fuels they’re handling are indeed safe, and that we as an industry have the training pathways established to upgrade their skills. Seafarers and other maritime workers are already feeling the effects of an unstable climate – dry unnavigable rivers, soaring ocean surface temperatures, shutdown ports with heatwaves and flash floods.”

Sanda Ojiambo, assistant secretarygeneral and CEO of the UN Global Compact, adds: “Climate action focused on people and job creation must be at the core of a Just Transition to Net Zero. This new paper highlights that aligning with a 1.5°C trajectory requires action now to support the upskilling of the maritime workforce as the shipping industry moves to rapidly cut its greenhouse gas emissions”

Guy Platten, secretary general at the International Chamber of Shipping, comments: “There is an urgent need to establish the infrastructure and training required to prepare our seafaring workforce, both in developed and developing countries, to help meet our decarbonisation objectives. This should be done as of today, so they are ready and able to meet the challenges that new green fuels and propulsion technologies will pose and mitigate any potential health and safety risks for ships, communities, the environment and seafarers themselves.

“This is an opportunity for all so that no-one is left behind. Shipping cannot decarbonise without its workers and the 10-point action plan developed by the Task Force maps out a pathway for how this can be achieved, as our industry continues to navigate towards a decarbonised future.”

According to Kitack Lim, secretary general of the International Maritime Organization (IMO): “Climate change is a global issue that requires a global response. We must use every tool available to decarbonise the maritime sector. Alternative fuels and green technologies can help meet emission reduction targets. This cannot happen without the people who will be at the heart of implementing shipping’s decarbonisation journey. It is clear that seafarers must have the appropriate training for a smooth transition to a greener future. This is something that will be in sharp focus as IMO works on its comprehensive review of the STCW Training Convention.”

CEO of leading maritime consultancy DNV Maritime, Knut ØrbeckNilssen, adds: “Decarbonisation is bringing new opportunities and new technologies, but also new risks. Our first priority must be to achieve safe decarbonisation. We must take a collaborative approach to safeguard our people, our ships and our environment. This report points to the challenges and the tangible actions the industry can take to support and protect its workforce. DNV is pleased to see the action plan led by the Task Force and recognise the challenge to train seafarers on alternative fuel technologies.”

FIVE-POINT PLAN

Classification society Lloyd’s Register (LR] has launched a five-level framework for assessing the actual readiness of a vessel for the transition to zero-carbon fuels.

Published by LR’s Maritime Decarbonisation Hub, “Zero Ready Framework – helping to ensure shipping can deliver our zeroemissions future” ranks vessel readiness for zero-carbon fuel operations from 1 (highest level of readiness) to 5 (lowest level of readiness), and measured on a well-towake basis.

The framework has been created to offer clarity around the term “readiness”, which is used in multiple ways across the shipping industry. The rankings were developed based on observations that some shipowners have had a design for conversion to zero-carbon fuel done as a paper exercise, without a plan for how the conversion would be carried out. Others have some or all the required equipment (for example: engine, tank, pipework, fuel management system) already installed. Another group of vessels have a dual fuel engine that could run on a zero-carbon fuel but may require an engine retrofit to do so.

An assessment of a container ship route in Southeast Asia by the LR Maritime Decarbonisation Hub found that, despite pushing forward of new initiatives by financiers, insurers and ship charterers to achieve zero emissions, 27% to 30% of vessels newly built between 2022 and 2050 will still require conversion to a different fuel in order to meet zero targets.

US GHG JOURNEY

The Blue Sky Maritime Coalition (BSMC) has released a report focused on further supporting the North American shipping industry’s journey toward achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.

The report, the second in a series identifying the pathways and approaches to accelerate the transition to net-zero emissions, looks at the roles of vessel types, inventories and GHG accounting approaches.

“Developing recommendations to standardise accounting for GHG emissions within the North American shipping industry is essential to pave the way to net-zero emissions. Distributing this data and making it easily accessible is an important step in expanding the drive to adopt these new technologies and ideas,” says David Cummins, BSMC President and CEO.

The report highlights how decarbonising shipping will require the utilisation of multiple fuels and propulsion systems, even within a single vessel category. It revealed that emissions associated with North American shipping are not required to be reported under a standardised structure, so different approaches are emerging as voluntary reporting has continued to increase. The report also sets forth a more detailed assessment of the currently operating vessel categories, their operational constraints and emissions profiles, and the implications for decarbonising the marine value chain by 2050.

“Flexibility and a range of fuels and propulsion systems could be appropriately adopted through advances in technology and regulatory incentives,” says Cummins.

IMPACT PAPER

P&I insurer the Standard Club has laid out its vision to support its members’ sustainability goals with the launch of its first sustainability impact paper.

The London-headquartered insurer released the report, entitled Planet | People | Performance, in November as it looks to reduce the direct and indirect impact it has across areas of its operations and services.

The report breaks down Standard Club’s strategy into two key impact indicators. The first focuses on how the club will work with its members to help create more sustainable services and practices, while the second indicator details how it plans to make its own operation more sustainable.

“While the shipping industry has been discussing sustainability for more than a decade, insurers have only relatively recently considered the potential impact on their business,” says Jeremy Grose, Standard Club’s chief executive.

“This sustainability paper sets out our ethos and agenda for positive and sustainable change – covering the insights and advice we offer our members to support their drive to sustainability, and how we are putting our own house in order to fulfil our greener goals,” he adds.

The strategy includes several key measures to support sustainability goals, including developing and using emerging technologies, supporting the offshore and renewables sector, supporting seafarer wellbeing and committing to helping members make a transition to greener energy solutions through its Alternative Fuels Working Group. The report also sets out the club’s commitment to sustainable claims and casualty response techniques.

All the initiatives outlined in the report are aligned with seven of the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals and are designed to support the club’s members by mitigating risks, boosting safety and supporting sustainable practices.

“Our sustainability strategy has been developed by experts from across the club, including claims, underwriting, loss prevention, risk and compliance. Our work has identified areas where we are already strong, where we need to be stronger and what we need to do over the next 10 years to improve our sustainability efforts further,” says Edward Morland, head of the Standard Club’s Sustainability Working Group.

One key element of the strategy is supporting seafarers’ wellbeing. The club helps its members to support seafarer wellbeing by sharing best practice, undertaking detailed research through its participation in the Seafarer Happiness Index and is a significant supporter of a number of seafarer charities.

The strategy also highlights how Standard Club has already worked with its members to create practical measures to support local

sustainability efforts. These include working with specialised recycling experts to convert hazardous waste into alternative materials following a container ship fire and how the club supported local contractors and volunteers in the wake of a loss of containers in an environmentally sensitive area by giving them equipment and infrastructure, but allowing them autonomy in their conduct.

The launch of Standard Club’s Impact Paper followed the International Group of P&I Clubs plan in September 2022 to leverage the collective strength of the entire marine insurance industry and the 90% of ocean-going tonnage they represent to further enhance sustainability efforts. A copy of the report can be downloaded at: tinyurl.com/StandardClubReport

GRII GAINS GROUND

The Global Resilience Index Initiative (GRII), to be fully launched at COP28, will provide open reference data, metrics and projections of all countries worldwide. This critical missing layer of the world’s information architecture is key to reshaping development, managing risk and saving millions of lives and livelihoods – both now and decades ahead.

Multi-partner taskforce GRII was announced during the COP27 World Bank Plenary Session in November, along with key milestones in its development towards an open, standard set of climate metrics and data to measure risks to communities, infrastructure and ecosystems.

GRII is a global public-private partnership to address the climate data emergency with consistent, accessible and reliable risk information for use by governments, the financial sector and wider communities.

At this point mid-way from its initial announcement at COP26 to full launch at COP28, the public and private sector GRII partners announced: » The launch of the GRII demonstrator, the GRII Viewer, providing the initial set of people, planet and prosperity indices to guide financial decisions to scale up adaptation » The release of a UN report underlining the case for the GRII: Towards a Climate Risk Data

Architecture: Common and Open

Risk Metrics to Align Finance with

Climate Resilient Development Goals (published by United Nations office for Disaster Risk Reduction [UNDRR] and the Centre for Green Finance and Investment (CGFI). At COP27, the GRII called on innovators and data providers worldwide to support the scaling and improvement of this initiative, as well as engagement from more pathfinder institutions and governments. The race for data is a critical part of the race for resilience, and accessible climate risk indices must be made available to financial systems and economies.

Patrons of the GRII initiative – which was convened by the crosssector Insurance Development Forum and first announced at COP26 – are Mark Carney, UN special envoy on climate action and finance; Mami Mizutori, assistant secretary-general and special representative of the secretary-general for disaster risk Reduction in the UNDRR; and Eric Andersen, member and risk modelling champion insurance development forum steering committee and president, Aon.

Mizutori said at the COP27 meeting: “It is encouraging to see the operational momentum that has been achieved for the GRII since COP26, including the first use cases, initial seed funding and the launch of the data viewer. But this project has only just begun and to reach its full potential, the GRII needs more data feeds, and more pathfinder institutions and governments.

“If we double down on efforts to reduce vulnerability, poverty and inequality, I believe this can be achieved. Quality risk data will play a crucial role in this. We need data that is comparable across all continents – on hazard, exposure, vulnerability and climate change risk. GRII is an excellent example of private and public sector partners working together to reduce disaster risk. We must now accelerate systemic data collection and aggregation for risk-informed climate action.”

Rowan Douglas, chair of GRII and of the IDF Operating Committee said: “Congratulations to the academic, public and private sector teams that took the challenge laid down by UN special envoy, Mark Carney to fill the critical climate resilience information gap. You cannot manage what you cannot measure.

“The GRII meets these urgent challenges, described in today’s groundbreaking report published in parallel by UNDRR and CGFI. But, filling the resilience information void is major task and we warmly invite all players in the space to join this collective endeavour to help quell the Climate Emergency.

“I am delighted the insurance sector has stepped up, via the Insurance Development Forum, led with its unique expertise and resources to propel this global public good with its UN, Academic and wider industry partners. Now we can accelerate our efforts towards full launch at COP28.”

Ben Caldecott, founding director of the UK Centre for Greening Finance and Investment (CGFI) and director of the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group, University of Oxford, said: “As our new report with the UNDRR finds, with a common language of risk and resilience, new forms of financial products can be designed and markets established to help mobilise the trillions of investment required for adaptation and resilience.

“Together with the GRII taskforce partners, we are working closely to create a new climate risk data architecture to provide globally consistent, open baseline datasets on climate risk and resilience metrics as a public good. Our mission is to help overcome the major barriers that exist to achieving Article 2.1c of the Paris Agreement – to align finance with climate-resilient development goals. The hard work has only just begun and we will continue to collaborate with our global taskforce partners from across the public, private, humanitarian and academic sectors to achieve what we have set out to do.”

The GRII draws upon significant cross-sector risk modelling experience, including public-private partnerships between governments, academia, insurance and engineering.