UK maritime lobby fears sector 'may be left behind' without new decarbonisation plan

Some of the British maritime sector’s largest trade bodies are urging the new UK government not to overlook the maritime sector in investing for decarbonisation. 

The UK Chamber of Shipping, Cruise Line International, British Ports Association and the UK Major Ports Group have all signed on to a joint letter to UK Maritime Minister Mike Kane asking the member of Parliament (MP) and the UK’s governing Labour cabinet to prioritise investment in decarbonising maritime. 

Citing that "hundreds of millions of pounds are being invested each year" in the pursuit of emissions reductions in the sector, which accounts for some 3% of global emissions, the trade groups said that it cannot achieve its goals without matching "support" from the government.

"In order for the maritime sector to achieve its net-zero targets it needs the confidence that this ambition will be matched with support from the government. While the General Election curtailed the planned review of the Clean Maritime Plan, this is now long overdue," the signatories said.

Prime among the concerns the trade groups outlined were commitments made since the new government took power to decarbonise the aviation sector, including planned legislation to incentivise production of sustainable aviation fuel discussed in the post-election King’s Speech from the UK’s reigning monarch King Charles III, a traditional address to the country by the King that sets out priorities agreed by the incoming government.

Plans for the government to spend some £100M (US$128M) on greener air travel prompted the trade groups to say that "maritime risks being left behind".

The groups called on the new UK government to "ensure" that a new decarbonisation plan for the maritime sector is published, calling the plan "long overdue" and noting that the former government under the UK’s Tory political party had "continually delayed and pushed back" an intended rewrite of the country’s Clean Maritime Plan from 2019.

"The successor to the Clean Maritime Plan should build on its foundations and include a multi-year strategy, creating a technology-neutral framework for government support and engagement, through important mechanisms like UK Shore, and a clear pathway to aid the sector in its determination to reach net zero," the groups said, while pledging to work with the government to produce the document.

As part of the request for the new plan, the maritime groups said they want a policy that is aligned with the most recent updates to the International Maritime Organization’s strategy on the reduction of greenhouse gases in shipping, that was agreed by the United Nations organisation’s member states in 2023.