Norway calls for shipping to cut its emissions by 50%

When the International Maritime Organization meets in London next week, climate change and reducing carbon emissions will be high on the agenda.

The special agency of the UN represents 173 member states who will discuss what targets to set and how it can go about tackling carbon emissions within its industry.

And it might be seen as a long time coming for a sector which contributes 2.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, but has so far made only tentative progress towards decarbonisation.

Leading the pack for much more stringent goals is Norway’s shipping industry. “Emissions should be reduced by 50 percent towards 2050 compared to 2008,” Harald Solberg, head of the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association told a news conference this week alongside Norway’s Trade Minister Torbjoern Rooe Isaksen.

“We hope the IMO will agree on these ambitious emission targets. That is the only solution, if not we fear regional solutions, and that will not work”, Solberg added.

Isaksen went on to tell the Reuters news agency that “we need international rules ... our base line is the same as the Norwegian Shipowners”.

Meanwhile, the CEO of Finnish shipping company Norsepower, has said that its wind-based technology can help the industry meet its decarbonisation targets.

Tuomas Riski commented ahead of the meeting that “when the issue of decarbonising shipping is raised at the IMO, it seems that all too often it is dismissed because the technology to reduce emissions is not ready.”

“We hope that the IMO will recognise the potential savings offered by the clean technology community and set Paris Agreement-aligned GHG reduction targets…A 70-100% reduction in total emissions by 2050, as supported by EU member states, is critical to holding global temperatures well below two degrees of warming and preventing catastrophic climate change”

“As a clean technology provider, Norsepower is ready to support that future. The challenge for the industry is not the technology but the will to implement it”, he added.