Within the travel industry, the cruise sector is one
of the biggest targets of criticism for its
impact on the environment.
These massive floating resorts are expected to host more
than 30 million passengers this year, according to the Cruise Line International
Association (CLIA), which
represents more than 50 cruise lines that account for more than 95% of global
cruise capacity.
But as cruise ships carry travelers to every corner of
the globe, they're also spewing pollutants into the air at an
astonishing rate. According to a June
2019 report from European environmental lobby group
Transport & Environment, in 2017, ships operated by Carnival Corporation
emitted 10 times more sulphur dioxide in European seas than all of the
continent’s more than 260 million passenger vehicles. And other large cruise
lines are close behind.
For several years, many cruise lines have been taking
steps to eliminate or at least minimize their environmental impact: The CLIA says
worldwide, the industry has invested more than $22 billion in ships with new
technologies, cleaner fuels and systems for exhaust gas cleaning, advanced
wastewater treatment and shore-side electricity usage.
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But CLIA vice president of maritime policy Donnie Brown says its
members recognize more needs to be done, so the group has joined a global
maritime industry proposal to create a collaborative organization to lead the
research and development of new technologies that will eliminate carbon
emissions from international shipping.
Known as the International Maritime Research and
Development Board, it would be a non-governmental organization
overseen by the more than 170 member states of the International
Maritime Organization (IMO).
“Our cruise line members have their own
programs where they are researching new technologies, but the benefit that
could be brought through a collective effort really outweighs that
significantly,” Brown says.
The IMO has established a target of a 50% reduction in
greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping by 2050 as compared to the
levels in 2008. At the end of 2018, CLIA member cruise lines committed to a
more aggressive goal - a 40% reduction compared to 2008 by 2030.
“Across the maritime industry there is a huge demand for
technologies that are going to help us achieve emission reduction and fill a
void because those technologies just don’t exist right now. So we are hopeful [this
proposed board] can spur that technological research and development and
delivery of solutions to the market,” Brown says.
The proposal, submitted to the IMO
in December, calls for the program to be funded by a contribution of $2 per ton
of fuel on board for consumption from all commercial ships of 5,000 gross tons
or more, estimated to be $5 billion over 10 years.
Brown says this type of
financial backing could be “exactly the type of kickstart needed for those
entities that are out there that may have ideas we haven’t heard about yet. Maybe
it gives them the seed money in order to really make something of it and
provides an avenue that gives it much broader recognition.”
As a return on that investment, participating cruise
lines and other maritime organizations would - ideally - receive access to
technological solutions that don’t exist today and which will be needed for the
industry to meet the ambitious carbon reduction goals.
The IMO’s Marine Environmental Protection
Committee meets March 30 to begin discussing the proposed establishment of this
research and development board.