Historic Climate Agreement Approved in IMO: A milestone for the shipping industry's climate efforts, says Knut Arild Hareide.

"With this agreement, shipping will be the first sector to have a globally established price on greenhouse gas emissions. That makes the agreement historic and an important milestone in the shipping industry's climate work," says Knut Arild Hareide, CEO of the Norwegian Shipowners' Association. 

Significant progress was made in the UN's maritime organization IMO on Friday, when a compromise proposal for an international climate agreement for shipping received support from a clear majority of member countries. 
 
The agreement now approved follows up on IMO's climate strategy from 2023 and sets new regulations for how shipping is to become emission-free by 2050. The regulations place requirements on the fuel used on board ships and entail that the industry must pay for emissions that exceed a certain level, with an added cost if the ship does not meet minimum emission reduction requirements. In addition, ships that use net-zero fuel or technology will be financially rewarded. 

"We had hoped for an even more ambitious agreement, but we are first and foremost relieved that we have secured majority support for international regulations that make it more expensive to use fossil fuels. This will make it more attractive to develop and adopt new, green technology and fuels. We therefore believe the agreement will bring us closer to the goal of emission-free shipping by 2050. Even though the agreement is not perfect, we see it as a good starting point for further climate work in the shipping sector," he says. 

The agreement that has now been approved has support from a clear majority of member countries, but there is still no consensus among all IMO member states. The agreement will therefore be forwarded for final adoption in October. 

"I want to extend a big thank you to the Norwegian delegation in general and a special thanks to Sveinung Oftedal, who led the negotiations. A tremendous effort has been made to bring this across the finish line, especially given the geopolitical backdrop we currently face," says Hareide. 

"The Norwegian Shipowners' Association, will do what we can to ensure that the agreement is finally adopted in October and that the process goes as smoothly as possible," says Hareide.