The global regulatory landscape of onboard carbon capture and storage (OCCS) or the new scrubbers

This is an In-Person Event

9 Dec 2024, 4:00pm - 5:30pm
National University of Singapore, Bukit Timah Campus, 469A Bukit Timah Road, Block B, Level 4, Seminar Room 4-3, Singapore 259756

INTRODUCTION

The 2023 IMO GHG Strategy set ambitious targets for the shipping industry. These include reducing CO2 emissions by 40% by 2040, peaking GHG emissions as soon as possible, up taking of zero or net zero GHG emission technologies to represent at least 5% by 2030 and reaching net-zero by or close to 2050.

However, studies show that the alternative fuels and technologies envisaged to achieve the decarbonisation of the shipping industry still involve significant GHG emissions. In order to nevertheless reach the targets of the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy, the shipping industry is pushing for the use of onboard carbon capture and storage (OCCS). It involves the capture of CO2 from exhaust gases before it would be released in the atmosphere. Whilst considering this approach as very promising and investing in technical R&D, the industry highlights the urgent need for a supportive regulatory environment.

This seminar will discuss the status of the development of this regulatory framework at the IMO and compare it with another on-going discussion on the regulation of scrubbers for sulfur dioxide (SO2) (whether open loop or closed loop). The relationship with the work of the London Convention and its Protocol if the captured carbon is to be sequestered rather that utilised will also be considered in this context. Finally, it will raise questions and ways forward to ensure that the use of such technology does not transform a type of pollution of the marine environment into another or transfer a pollution from an area to another.

SPEAKER

Dr Youna LBL LYONS is a marine policy analyst, trained in international law and oceanography in Australia, France, and the USA, with 30 years of professional experience. She specialises in technical issues of global and regional marine environmental governance, with a particular focus on Southeast Asia, the North Atlantic and areas beyond national jurisdiction. Her focus is on the interface of international law and policy, and marine sciences.

As a trustee and Chair of the Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea (ACOPS), Youna participates in law-making, recommendations and guidance developments in a number of intergovernmental bodies where ACOPS is an observer. These include OSPAR and the Arctic Council at regional level; and, the International Maritime Organisation on shipping activities, the London Convention and its Protocol for dumping activities and the International Seabed Authorities for seabed mining activities beyond national jurisdiction. She is also a coordinating author of the World Ocean Assessment III (governance section).

Academically, she is affiliated with the National University of Singapore where she was a research professor until the end of 2023 and where she worked for the last 15 years.