Lars Carlsson, a director at Windship Technology, has hit out at shipping's carbon emission reduction agreement reached last week.
While IMO member states and industry associations praised the deal, Carlsson described it as a “shame” for shipping.
“They postpone emission reduction efforts by more than 30 years," he said. "A generation of ships and shipping executives have just got carte blanche to do nothing to reduce emissions from shipping during the next 30 years.”
Carlsson said shipping needed to reduce emissions by 70% to 80% to keep pace with the Paris Agreement on climate change, not the minimum 50% agreed at the IMO last week.
“With anticipated increase in global population, the seaborne trade will also increase, which will lead to rising emissions from shipping," he said. "Emissions may well increase by 250% as per [the] IMO's own estimation — while the rest of the world fights to reduce its emissions by 75%.”
He said technology to achieve zero-carbon emission shipping is already here, referencing Windship Technology, which, in combination with biofuels, can produce a ship that is free from greenhouse gas emissions.
Carlsson believes that emissions could be cut by 100% by 2040 by using such technology.
