Green fuel advocates push against LNG as IMO meets to finalise net zero shipping framework

A new initiative has been launched to phase out LNG and other methane-based fuels from the shipping industry, as the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) prepares to gather this week to finalise its Net Zero Framework.

Maritime Beyond Methane (MARBEM) is formed of 14 organisations from around the globe – including Stand.Earth and Transport & Environment (T&E) – all working to accelerate the transition to net zero shipping. 

Engaging with policymakers, financial institutions, investors and industry leaders, the organisation is currently focused on fighting the argument that LNG can be used as a ‘transition fuel’. The launch comes as the IMO is preparing to meet to vote on the final contents of its Net Zero Framework – a plan developed in April to clarify the pathway to global shipping decarbonisation.

“Let us be clear with you, LNG, in any shape or form, cannot be a solution for shipping. The IMO must recognise this in the guidelines that still need to be negotiated over the coming months, and that will shape the framework before it enters into action in 2027,” wrote Elissama Menezes and Andrew Dumbrille, directors of MARBEM partner Equal Routes, in an op-ed published ahead of the launch last week.

LNG and shipping’s methane emissions

According to MARBEM, methane emissions from ships fuelled by LNG increased by 180% between 2016 and 2023, with methane “leaking through the entire lifecycle of this fuel” regardless of the source of LNG (fossil, bio-LNG or e-LNG).

Including LNG in the IMO’s Net Zero Framework would jeopardise climate goals and force shipowners to conduct expensive retrofits as LNG is eventually phased out, so “what may seem like a short-term economic strategy risks leaving the sector with a costly legacy of prematurely obsolete ships,” the organisation adds.

Instead of betting on LNG, the IMO should align shipping’s climate ambition with a 1.5 degree pathway and the principles of a just and equitable transition, with governments creating a coherent framework around carbon intensity, a global fuel standard and a greenhouse gas pricing system, according to MARBEM.

On the latter, an agreement was signed at the latest IMO conference in London this past April: companies are expected to reduce the emissions intensity of their vessels by 30% by 2035 and 65% by 2040, or face fines of US$100 to US$380 per tonne of emissions, depending on the type of fuel used.

Prioritising green fuels over LNG in the Net Zero Framework

But MARBEM argues that this work needs to be guided by lifecycle assessment guidelines based on the ‘well-to-wake’ principle – which would make it clear that methane-based fuels – LNG, biomethane, and e-methane – “cannot credibly deliver on climate, pollution, or human rights objectives”.

At the same time, more than 20 leading green fuel producers are also calling on the IMO to seize a ‘once-in-a-generation’ opportunity to set shipping on a sustainable pathway by incentivising green fuels over LNG in the Net Zero Framework, which will be adopted this week.

Dr Alison Shaw, IMO manager at T&E, said: “E-fuel producers need policy certainty to get green shipping fuels off the ground. Shipping could become a major offtaker for hundreds of projects worldwide, but only under the right rules. The current IMO Net-Zero Framework leaves e-fuels competing with cheaper and unsustainable options like fossil gas and first-generation biofuels. The message from producers is clear: to decarbonise shipping at scale, incentives for green e-fuels are essential. Without targeted incentives, shipping’s energy transition risks stalling before it begins.”