Decarbonising the Shipping Industry: A Status Report

Abstract

Abstract Against the background of an escalating climate crisis, this article provides an overview of the present status of international regulatory efforts addressing greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions from ships. It does so by tracing the evolution of mitigation policies and regulations and examining their adequacy, practicability as well as equity and fairness. Its principal focus is on reducing GHG emissions from ships themselves as the most direct and effective approach to improving the shipping industry’s climate profile. International shipping, as an intrinsically globally operating industry, ultimately requires consistency, if not uniformity, in regulation which only a global regime can provide. The article therefore focuses primarily on efforts by the international community at large, specifically by the International Maritime Organization, to respond to the climate crisis and to ensure that the shipping industry decarbonises in a timely as well just and fair manner.