Höegh, Hapag-Lloyd, T&E and others urge IMO to discourage crop-based biofuels
A coalition of shipping companies and environmental non-profits has called on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to discourage the use of crop-based biofuels in shipping.
PHOTO: Drums of biofuels. Getty Images
In a joint letter, the signatories urged the IMO to ban crop-based biofuels from compliance with “existing and future” MARPOL ANNEX VI regulations and to assign them the "well-to-wake GHG values of the least favourable fossil fuel pathways".
The signatories include shipping firms such as Höegh Autoliners, Hapag-Lloyd, and Louis Dreyfus, along with environmental non-profits like Transport & Environment (T&E) and Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU).
The letter also called on the IMO to exclude crop-based biofuels from any economic incentives offered for using low- and zero-emission marine fuels in its planned mid-term measures.
It highlighted the limited supply of truly sustainable biofuels that deliver genuine well-to-wake emissions reductions and warned that most biofuels currently rely on crop-based feedstocks such as palm and soybean oil.
According to the signatories, these fuels contribute to direct and indirect deforestation, water scarcity and food insecurity, ultimately undermining any potential emission reductions.
To support their position, the signatories referenced the EU’s FuelEU Maritime regulation, which already excludes virgin crop-based biofuels from its list of permitted fuels.
The letter also cited a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report, which calls for urgent action to integrate environmental safeguards, define pathways for resource conservation and implement effective financial, trade and economic incentives.
“Unless legally binding safeguards are introduced, there is a risk that a large amount of fossil fuels will be replaced with unsustainable biofuels,” the letter explained.
By Konica Bhatt
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