MB92 IN NUMBERS

03 Executive Summary

NO MORE STALLING: IT’S TIME FOR THE SUPERYACHT INDUSTRY TO ACT ON CLIMATE CHANGE

The latest report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlighted the increasing sense that the world is in the last chance saloon. The time left for action is almost up if we are to keep rising temperatures within a manageable range.

Carbon emissions must peak by 2025 and then fall rapidly to almost zero by the second half of this century if the Paris Climate Agreement objective of limiting global warming to 1.5C is to be met. Professor Jim Skea, co-chair of the report, said it’s “now or never” if global warming is to be kept in check.

“Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, it will be impossible,” he said.

That sense of urgency is only just reaching the superyacht sector. The sector is not only arriving late to the problem but is at risk of missing the boat altogether.

“The situation has become so critical that even the shortterm goals we have set ourselves for 2030 may no longer be enough,” says MB92 Group Chairman Pepe García-Aubert. “It may be a case of bringing our objectives forward.”

That’s not to say that the solutions are easy or obvious. To reduce emissions in time, the industry will have to tap into the latest technology and innovation. Industry insiders say there’s a reticence among owners to be the first. Trying out new technologies might make you a heralded pioneer but it could just as easily leave you holding an expensive, failed experiment. Regulatory targets set by governing bodies are virtually non-existent, or easy to meet. It’s therefore up to the sector to self-regulate, which leaves space and freedom for experimentation. The superyacht business has the money and the people with the know-how to find solutions.

Some ship builders are working on projects that could open the way to zero-emission cruising. Whether the final answer lies in hydrogen fuel cells or methanol is still too early to say but reaching a consensus in the industry about the most viable option will help accelerate the process.

Engine makers are already offering biofuels that can significantly reduce emissions. Superyacht engines could soon be powered by e-diesel and synthetic fuels such as hydrogenated vegetable oil.

Designers are shifting to more sustainable materials, using natural fibres that can be recycled and that reduce the weight of the boat to improve efficiency through the water.

Most of the pioneering work is being done on new builds, where designers have the freedom to experiment with solutions that may require a radical rethink of spaces and volumes. It’s often difficult to retrofit some of these solutions to existing yachts.

But the existing fleet isn’t going anywhere soon, and with life cycles of more than 30 years, there are solutions already available that can help these boats to reduce their footprint.