Sea Cargo Charter Calls on IMO to Deliver More Ambitious Targets

The Sea Cargo Charter, a global framework for assessing and disclosing the climate alignment of chartering activities, has released its annual report covering 2022, highlighting the disclosure of emissions data and calling for action from the IMO.

The 33 signatories covered by the report account for more than 17% of total bulk cargo transported by sea over the year. Their average reporting rate increased since last year to 90%.

“While achieving full decarbonisation by 2050 may seem far off, the maritime industry is well aware of the importance of decisions taken now in order to achieve this goal. The data in the Sea Cargo Charter report shows signatories’ dedication to measuring and reporting transparently their climate impact as an essential first step towards reducing emissions,” says Rasmus Bach Nielsen, Chair of the Sea Cargo Charter Association and Global Head of Fuel Decarbonisation at Trafigura.

Nielsen says the signatories would like to add their voice to those calling for ambitious targets on decarbonisation to be adopted at the IMO’ MEPC 80 meeting as part of the revised Strategy for Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from ships.

“Achieving these reduction targets is essential for the industry to play its role in addressing climate change, and it will require an appropriate policy framework that allows companies to take the commercial decisions needed to accelerate decarbonisation,” he says. “The key is that while it is fine to have big targets, we also need a regulatory framework where it can be realistic to reach these.”

At the association’s annual meeting in April, signatories continued the ongoing discussion of how to make the reporting more robust and whether to raise the ambition level. However, many members were keen to wait for the outcome of the MEPC80 meeting, as the results will have big implications on the industry’s ability to deliver on the Paris Agreement temperature increase goal.

Eman Abdalla, Vice Chair of the Sea Cargo Charter Association and Global Operations Director at Cargill Ocean Transportation, says: “To make our voice louder, we are looking to open up our membership scope to not only charterers and cargo owners but also shipowners so that they can join us and make the Sea Cargo Charter a truly industry-wide initiative where we together unite and work towards one global transparent and standardized emission reporting system.

It ought to be in the interest of all industry stakeholders to have common alignment and transparency on emissions, she says.