The international association of shipowners and operators,
BIMCO, is calling for governments and the shipping industry to work together to
support the industry’s conversion to new environmentally-friendlier fuels.
According to the board of the organization, there needs to be a global ruleset
for market-based measures (MBM) to support the use of low carbon fuels and to
create a level playing field for the industry.
“One way we can make the current low emission technologies
competitive with traditional fuels is through some form of market-based
measure,” said BIMCO president Sadan Kaptanoglu. “We need a mechanism that
equalizes the cost between using low carbon fuels and traditional fossil
fuels.”
BIMCO describes the market-based measure it is calling for
as a rule or legal framework that encourages a desired behavior through
financial incentives. In this case, they are proposing that these tools should be
used to encourage the shipping industry to use low carbon or zero-carbon fuels
to limit CO2 emissions.
“Equalizing the cost can also spur on innovation, because
the potential market grows, and speed up the installation of the required
infrastructure,” Kaptanoglu says. But as long as using traditional fuels is
dramatically cheaper, it will discourage the uptake of low carbon fuels and put
the first moving companies at a significant competitive disadvantage.
BIMCO stresses that market-based measures for shipping
should be governed by global rules, as it is critical that the industry is not
required to pay for its carbon emissions multiple times. This is relevant if
market-based measures are being implemented regionally as, for example, has
been announced by the European Commission.
The support for some form of globally regulated market-based
measures was debated and agreed upon at BIMCO’s board of directors meeting in
late January 2021.
The International Maritime Organization is a good platform
for the debate on a ruleset, according to Kaptanoglu, but it is critical that
the debate begins now, in order for the industry to make the transition in time
to reach our CO2 reduction targets.