The High Seas Project: Assessing the technical and operational scope for rapid carbon emission reduction from global shipping

Though the shipping industry is considering the formation of a discrete emissions trading scheme for the industry as a whole, some in the industry foresee shipping emissions increasing out to 2050 and beyond (albeit at a slower rate than under business as usual). However given the deep and very rapid cuts required in globalemissions to avoid dangerous climate change, this is no longer a realistic option. Instead, it will be necessary for shipping, along with aviation and all other sectors of the global economy, to stabilise emissions in the near-term and then begin the process of making substantial reductions. This project aims to explore potential opportunities within the shipping industry for making such large, step-change reductions in emissions.The first step in reducing emissions is to be able to accurately measure them. However, there is currently considerable uncertainty with regard to the level of shipping emissions and this project will begin by developing a methodology that aims to substantially reduce this level of uncertainty. The project then moves on to the issue of apportionment, exploring existing methodologies and developing newones to determine which nations are responsible for what proportion of historic and current shipping emissions. The approaches developed will be used to re-calculate the UK's shipping emissions over the last decade. The UK Government's carbon budget out to 2050 includes shipping emissions and, thus, even if a discrete trading scheme for shipping is established, it will still be necessary to determine the proportion of future global shipping emissions for which the UK is responsible. This will be possible using the apportionment methodologies developed.Following work on the measurement and apportionment of emissions, the project will explore the technical and operational measures available for reducing global shipping emissions by an amount sufficient for the UK to meet its overall climate change objectives. This will involve investigating novel combinations of both existing technologies (e.g. advanced propeller coatings) and operational changes (e.g. reduced queuing at ports) and the potential for emerging technologies (e.g. kite-assisted sailing).The theoretical emissions reduction potential of these various measures (technical and operational) will then be calculated, and discussed with shipping stakeholders to obtain feedback on whether the reduction potential is plausible. Stakeholder views will also be sought on the barriers that exist within the shipping system to realising this theoretical potential and the types of interventions that can overcome such barriers and accelerate both the take-up of low-carbon options and the innovation process. To gain further insights into the workings of the shipping system, case studies will be made of various products and commodities, tracking their journey through the system from producer to consumer. The project will conclude by using the various research findings to develop a series of socio-technical scenarios for reducing UK shipping emissions in line with the UK's carbon budget. Again, feedback from shipping stakeholders on these scenarios will be sought.The project will adopt an explicitly interdisciplinary approach drawing on and integrating insights from a range of scientific and social science disciplines and the project team includes individuals with substantial expertise in various aspects of international transport, renewable technology, emission pathways and energy systems. The team also has experience of apportionment methodology, stakeholder engagement and scenario development in relation to the aviation industry and will transfer this experience to the investigation of the shipping system. It is envisaged that this research will be of significant benefit to policy makers, the shipping industry and academics working in the field.

The High Seas project has been designed to inform the policy discussion over the climate change impact of shipping, issues under discussion including the implementation of a global trading scheme for shipping, the real extent of emissions from UK shipping, and the relationship between a global scheme and a national cumulative greenhouse gas budget. WP1 of the project will unpack issues of emission accounting and apportionment at the UK level, whilst WP2 will explore how emissions may be reduced. Finally, the integrated scenarios will synthesise the elements of work to explore alternative low carbon futures. The outputs of the High Seas project will be communicated directly to UK policy makers in two ways. Firstly, members of the researcher team have already given evidence to the Environmental Audit committee, UK Committee on Climate Change and the Scottish Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee on shipping issues, and will have the opportunity to do so again during the course of the project; funding for this is provided directly by select committees. UK policy makers will also be interviewed face to face as part of WP 2, as will EU policy makers, particularly those responsible for the EU ETS with whom we will liaise directly concerning IMO mitigation proposals to contribute to new discussions on the inclusion of shipping within the EU ETS. Funding for policy liaison is covered within the 4k interview budget. Our intention is for the High Seas project to build on an existing Tyndall shipping project, and we have allocated 10k for two stakeholder workshops (tasks 1.4 and IA3). We will bring together consumers e.g. importers and exporters, and producers e.g. port operators and shipping companies to participate in the workshops. Participative working promotes stakeholder ownership, enhances knowledge exchange, and provides a forum for thinking creatively about future innovative solutions to specific shipping policy challenges. A number of future workshop participants have already been engaged with Tyndall Manchester research on intentional bunker shipping. To add further value to this participatory stakeholder engagement, the research team will continue to present findings at industry-led conferences, in particular where links are already established (E.g. Waterfront shipping emission conferences). Funding for this is provided through invited speaker fees and from the 1.5k industry workshop budget. The research team's retail partners Tesco are members of a business-CEO forum, to which we will present the research outputs; this will be funded by the Sustainable Consumption Institute (SCI). A project Steering Group, with invited membership from the shipping industry and regional policy makers will ensure that the research remains business and policy relevant. 2.1k has been allocated for this activity. Any of the innovative technology options assessed in WP2 which prove promising will be taken forward, working with the NWDA and technology providers in the region. Whilst publication of research outputs in peer reviewed journals is an essential part of dissemination to an academic community, such journals are often not accessed by the policy and industry communities. In recognition of this, the work plan identifies a number of policy relevant reports focusing on emission apportionment and shipping futures. These will be subject to internal peer review, and disseminated to those who have participated in the research, and published on the Tyndall Centre website to be accessed by the non-academic community both in the UK and overseas. Tyndall Manchester has become well known regionally and nationally for its communication activities and knowledge exchange, through presentations to the public and non-academic communities in addition to media work. The release of important reports will be accompanied by a press release and members of the project team will respond to any press queries.