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The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI), a coalition of companies from across the maritime industry, on Thursday set out what it described as "the required immediate actions for creating a framework to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from shipping".

The announcement comes ahead of what looks set to be a key 70th Marine Environmental Committee (MEPC) meeting later this month, where the implementation date of a global sulphur cap is scheduled to be discussed.

In a statement, the maritime coalition said: "The SSI believes that the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and all organisations and member states represented at MEPC must demonstrate a commitment to the Paris Agreement's objective of keeping global warming below two degrees. This can be achieved by adopting a detailed IMO roadmap for establishing shipping's 'fair share' of global emission reductions to be decided on at MEPC 70.

"IMO's 'fair share' discussions should lead to the swift establishment of reduction targets, titled 'Intended IMO Determined Contributions', which should be submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in order to align IMO's work with that of the UNFCCC. Defining shipping's 'fair share' of CO2 reductions must be balanced between the required ambition to deliver on the Paris Agreement, and the need to be equitable and affordable for the industry, as well as enforceable on a global basis to ensure change.

"The SSI also believes that the baseline for setting emissions reduction targets should be founded upon data from the IMO's third GHG study (2014), and not linked to ongoing data collection and analysis from a global Measuring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) scheme, which will only delay the urgent action that is required."

Ian Petty, General Manager of the Sustainable Shipping Initiative, remarked: "Decarbonisation of the global economy is under way. We are now at a crossroads for the shipping industry where it must choose to embark on an accelerated innovation pathway to ensure its long term relevance as the backbone of global commerce.

"The industry cannot achieve this alone through enhanced efficiency. It needs help from legislators to create a level global playing field, which will help incentivise the much-needed innovation in the industry. A minimum requirement at the forthcoming MEPC 70 meeting is to adopt a process to define shipping's fair share of CO2 emissions reductions."

IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) is due to hold its 70th session between 24th and 28th October. At the meeting, the MEPC is expected to discuss whether the implementation date of a 0.5 percent global limit on the sulphur content of marine fuel should be 1st January 2020 or delayed until 1st January 2025.