Source: World Council Ocean’s newsletter

The World Ocean Council (WOC) invites interested parties to the webinar “Climate Bonds’ New Shipping Criteria Public Consultation”, hosted by the Climate Bonds Initiative on 5 May 2020.

CLIMATE BONDS’ NEW SHIPPING CRITERIA PUBLIC CONSULTATION
Date: 5 May 2020
Time: 08:00 BST / 09:00 CEST
Registration: closed

The Climate Bonds Initiative has published the draft Shipping Criteria and opened the Criteria for public consultation until 26 June 2020. Developed by a Technical Working Group (TWG) and overseen by an Industry Working Group (IWG), the Shipping Criteria provide a science-based assessment process on the low carbon and climate resilient credentials of ships.

The webinar will be moderated by Lionel Mok of the Climate Bonds Initiative. Speakers include: Sean Kidney (CEO, Climate Bonds Initiative), Tristan Smith (Lecturer of Energy and Shipping, University College London) and Matteo Bigoni (Head of Certifications, Climate Bonds Initiative). They will provide insight into how green bonds and loans play a role in addressing climate change, and outline the certification process and proposed Shipping Criteria in detail.

The Shipping Criteria will form part of the Climate Bonds Standard and provide succinct decision rules for determining when shipping projects and assets are compatible with a low carbon, climate resilient economy, and are eligible for Climate Bonds Standard certification.

Draft Criteria highlights:
• No dedicated fossil fuel carrying vessels (no LNG tankers, no crude carriers)
• Zero emissions ships are automatically eligible, along with infrastructure that is dedicated to refuelling or recharging these ships
• Ships that are not zero emissions must comply with the declining emissions intensity threshold (using AER or EEOI as a metric)
• The declining emissions intensity starts at the median 2012 AER or EEOI for each size and class of ship and declines to zero by 2050. A ship must remain underneath this threshold throughout the life of the bond AND provide evidence that it can technically remain under the threshold over its entire operating life.
• Jack up rigs that are dedicated to installing renewable energy infrastructure are eligible, provided that they are also zero emissions.

The “WOC Ocean Investment Platform” is working to advance investment in responsible ocean development, including through the use of tools such as the Shipping Criteria of the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI). The WOC was a member of the CBI Industry Working Group on Marine Renewable Energy Investments, along with BlackRock, Credit Suisse, Althelia, Danske Bank, Trucost/S&P Dow Jones Indices, DNV GL, World Bank, Carbon Trust, and others.