Climate expectations
Ambitions and targets – UN, EU, Sweden, and IMO.
Climate goals are established at various levels: international, national, regional, local, and company. Here, the current targets for the UN, EU, Sweden, and the International Maritime Organization are described.
The United Nations (UN) has established various climate goals and targets to address the global challenge of climate change. The Paris Agreement and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) encompass the most important and widely known of these goals. Adopted in 2015 by all 193 UN Member States, the Paris Agreement aims to limit the global temperature rise this century to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to further limit the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. To achieve this, countries have committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy.
The European Union, a supranational political and economic union of 27 member states, adopted in 2021 a series of legislative proposals outlining its intentions to achieve two goals: Climate neutrality in the EU by 2050 and a 55 percent net reduction in emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
The Swedish parliament, at the national level, in 2017 - by a large political majority - decided to introduce a climate policy framework with a climate act for Sweden. This framework is the most significant climate reform in Sweden’s history and sets out the implementation of the Paris Agreement in Sweden. The climate goals for Sweden are:
- By 2045, Sweden is to have zero net emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. • By 2030, emissions from domestic transport will be reduced by at least 70% compared to 2010.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO), with 175 member states, is the United Nations specialized agency specifically responsible for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine and atmospheric pollution by ships. The IMO's work aligns with the UN sustainable development goals. In July 2023, IMO Member States adopted the In July 2023, the IMO Member States adopted the 2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships, featuring enhanced targets to address harmful emissions. The revised IMO GHG Strategy includes a common ambition to achieve net-zero GHG emissions from international shipping by or around 2050, a commitment to ensure the uptake of alternative zero and near-zero GHG fuels by 2030, and indicative checkpoints:
- 2030: Reduce total annual GHG emissions from international shipping by at least 20 percent, striving for 30 percent
- 2040: Reduce total annual GHG emissions from international shipping by at least 70 percent, striving for 80 percent.
In particular, the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy envisions a reduction in the carbon intensity of international shipping (CO2 emissions per transport work) by an average of least 40 percent across the industry by 2030. The new level of ambition relates to the uptake of zero or near-zero GHG emission technologies, fuels, and/or energy sources, representing at least 5 percent, striving for 10 percent, of the energy used by international shipping by 2030.
