* Shipping will emit around 20% more in 2050 on current path
* Decarbonisation is however possible, Maersk-funded
research show
* Carbon levy is needed to maker greener fuels more
competitive
By Stine Jacobsen
COPENHAGEN, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The global shipping industry
is on course to see its greenhouse gas emissions rise by around
a fifth by 2050 if action including introducing a carbon levy on
fuel is not taken, new research backed by industry leaders
shows.
With about 90% of world trade transported by sea, global
shipping accounts for nearly 3% of the world's CO2 emissions and
the sector is under growing scrutiny to become cleaner.
"The transition doesn't happen by itself because the ways of
decarbonising are more expensive than just continuing to run on
fossil fuels," said Bo Cerup-Simonsen, head of the independent
Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, which
published its research on Monday.
"If we don't do anything beyond what is just normal good
practice then shipping is on a path which is very far from the
pathway laid by IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
and the Paris Agreement," Cerup-Simonsen told Reuters.
He referred to a landmark report https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/un-sounds-clarion-call-over-irreversible-climate-impacts-by-humans-2021-08-09
by the U.N. climate panel published in August, which warned
that global warming is dangerously close to spiralling out of
control.
However, decarbonisation over the next three decades would
in fact be possible if action, including a global carbon levy on
shipping fuels, is taken to ensure that zero and low carbon
fuels become economically viable and competitive to fossil
fuels, he said.
Leading shipping associations in September proposed creating
a global levy on carbon emissions from ships to help speed up
the industry's efforts to go greener and submitted a proposal to
the UN's shipping agency, the International Maritime
Organization.
The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping
said such a levy could be introduced initially at as low as $50
per ton of CO2, with the revenue raised being earmarked for
first-movers in the industry to incentivise research and
development of alternative fuels.
"You then have 99% (of the shipping industry) running on
fossil fuel and they are paying for the 1% that are starting to
run on the green fuels," Cerup-Simonsen said.
The levy could then be gradually increased to $150 towards
2050, the centre says in its report.
The Copenhagen-based non-profit centre was founded last year
with funding by shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk's
majority owner, the A.P. Moller Foundation, and partners include
shipping lines Maersk and NYK, oil firm BP Siemens Energy
and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen; Editing by Susan Fenton)