UK Maritime Transport Plan postpones detailed 2050 roadmap

The chief executive of Maritime UK, Ben Murray, commented that “Government has led the way in setting stretching targets, but as yet we have no clear path to meeting them”. Mr. Murray called for an acceleration of investment in the UK’s Autumn budget.

Bob Sanguinetti, UK Chamber of Shipping Chief Executive added that funding for electric charging points for ships and technologies to support zero emission shipping, along with investment for accelerator projects, were vital to help shipping meet its targets.

In defence of the government’s measured approach, the report notes that “there is significant uncertainty at present surrounding the optimal trajectory for reaching net zero shipping emissions”. One of the detailed commitments was to developing a more detailed overview of the domestic fleet, “to provide a better evidence base for future policy interventions”.

The Motorship notes that major infrastructure investment decisions, such as the proposed installation of significant shoreside power capacity – upon which the UK government will consult in Q4 2021 – are likely to influence the course of decarbonisation approaches in the UK for years to come.

The decarbonisation plan itself announced a number of new decarbonisation targets, including a public consultation in mid-2022 around a net zero target for UK shipping by 2050.

Alongside, the government has committed to “review and refresh” the UK’s Clean Maritime Plan (CMP) in 2022, including indicative targets for the domestic maritime sector from 2030 onwards, and long-term interventions needed to achieve full decarbonisation.

One of these interventions is likely to be the pre-announced phasing out of new non zero-emission domestic vessels, dependent on the results of a public consultation in 2022. Other “economic instruments” will also be considered as a means of accelerating the pace of decarbonisation of the sector.

In terms of public support for UK low-carbon technologies, the announcement today confirmed that the government was planning to set up a standalone UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK-SHORE) unit within the Department for Transport focused on decarbonising the maritime sector.

Finally, the plan confirmed that following a public consultation in March 2021, the UK’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) would be extended to support renewable fuels of non-biological origin used in shipping.