Editing IPCC:AR6/WGIII/Chapter-10 (section)

=== 10.6.5 Accountability and Governance Options ===

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Regulatory frameworks for the shipping sector have been developed over time and will continue to be through bodies such as the IMO, which was established by the UN to manage international shipping. The IMO strategy involves a 50% reduction in GHG emissions from international shipping by 2050 compared to 2008 ( [[#IMO--2018|IMO 2018]] ). The strategy includes a reduction in carbon intensity of international shipping by at least 40% by 2030, and 70% by 2050, compared to 2008. IMO furthermore aims for the sectoral phase-out of GHG emissions as soon as possible this century.

In 2020, the IMO approved the short-term goal-based measure to reduce the carbon intensity of existing international vessels. This measure addresses both technical and operational strategies. The operational element is represented by a Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII), and the technical element is represented by the Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI), which will apply to ships from 2023. The EEXI builds upon the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), which is a legally-binding mitigation regulation for newbuild ships, established as a series of baselines for the amount of fuel ships may burn for a particular cargo-carrying capacity. The EEDI differs per ship segment. For example, ships built in 2022 and beyond should be 50% more energy efficient than those built in 2013. This legislation aims to reduce GHG emissions in particular. Energy efficiency may be improved by several of the mitigation options outlined above. The Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) is seen as the international governance instrument to improve energy efficiency and hence emissions from ships. SEEMP is a measure to enable changes to operational measures and retrofits (see [[#Johnson--2013|Johnson et al. 2013]] ). The combination of EEXI, EEDI, and SEEMP may reduce emissions by 23% by 2030 compared to a ‘no policy’ scenario (Sims et al. 2014). With regards to accountability, it is mandatory for ships greater than or equal to 5000 gross tonnage to collect fuel consumption data, as well as specified data. Such as for transport work. Similarly, the EU Monitoring, Reporting and Verification Regulation requires mandatory reporting of a vessel’s fuel consumption when operating in European waters.

Policy choices may enable or hinder changes, and gaps in governance structures may, to some degree, hinder the objectives of mechanisms like SEEMP to improve energy efficiency and emissions. Policies may be developed to incentivise investments in necessary changes to the global fleet and related infrastructures. The literature argues that regulations and incentives that motivate mitigation through speed optimisation, ship efficiency improvements, and retrofits with lower-carbon technologies at a sub-global scale may contribute to immediate reductions in CO 2 emissions from the sector ( [[#Bows-Larkin--2015|Bows-Larkin 2015]] ). The role of the financial sector, through initiatives such as the Poseidon Principle, which limit lending to companies that fail to uphold environmental standards, could also become increasingly important ( [[#Sumaila--2021|Sumaila et al. 2021]] ).

It has been proposed to make shipping corporations accountable for their emissions by making it mandatory to disclose their vessels’ emissions reductions ( [[#Rahim--2016|Rahim et al. 2016]] ). Market-based mechanisms may increasingly encourage ship operators to comply with IMO GHG regulations. Development of policies such as carbon pricing or taxation to enable a business case for adopting low-carbon fuels could be a near-term priority for acceleration of transformation of the sector ( [[#Hoegh-Guldberg--2019|Hoegh-Guldberg et al. 2019]] ). The EU is considering including shipping in its carbon trading system, with the details still to be agreed upon but expected to come into force in 2023, along with the CII. The proposition is that shipowners who conduct voyages within Europe, or start or end at an EU port, will have to pay for carbon permits to cover the CO 2 emitted by their vessel.

Regulations exist also to limit emissions of air pollution from shipping with the aim to improve environment and health impacts from shipping in ports and coastal communities. In sulphur emission control areas (SECAs), the maximum permissible sulphur content in marine fuels is 0.10% mass/mass. These are further tightened by the IMO legislation on reducing marine fuel sulphur content to a maximum of 0.5% in 2020 outside SECAs, compared to 3.5% permissible since 2012 (MARPOL Convention). The MARPOL Annex VI also limits the emissions of ozone-depleting substances and ozone precursors, NO x , and volatile organic compounds from tankers ( [[#Mertens--2018|Mertens et al. 2018]] ). The implementation of the emission control areas have been shown to reduce the impacts on health and the environment ( [[#Viana--2015|Viana et al. 2015]] ).

While there are many governance and regulatory initiatives that help reduce emissions from the shipping sector, few are transformative on their own, unless zero-carbon fuels can become available at a reasonable cost as suggested in Sections 10.3 and below.

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