Transport Committee warns the UK could miss its net zero targets unless efforts to decarbonise the shipping industry accelerate

The government is being called on to ramp up investment in new technologies, cleaner fuels, and workforce training in support of efforts to decarbonise the UK's maritime and shipping industry or risk the country missing its overarching net zero emissions goals.

A new report today from the Transport Committee of MPs in response to the government's Maritime 2050 strategy welcomes the ambitious goals set out in the 2019 strategy, but warns more detailed policy measures are urgently needed to accelerate the roll out of green shipping technologies.

The report notes that the strategy was praised at the time for taking a decades-long view of how the sector will have to evolve, but it concluded that it has now become clear that the plan "lacks distinction" between aspirations and the actions that need to be taken to drive down emissions.

Chair of the Transport Committee, Ian Stewart, acknowledged that the maritime sector has shown that it is resilient, entrepreneurial, as well as used to working independently from government. But he stressed that there is still "an array" of things which the government should be doing to support the sector to help it achieve its net zero goals and "remain a positive force on the world stage for the UK economy".

"We commend the Government for being forward thinking in developing the Maritime 2050 strategy, but clarity and focus are needed to refine its muddle of 184 recommendations," he added.

DfT has said it is working on a follow up to its 2019 Clean Maritime Plan, which is set to include plans to ensure all new vessels which are ordered for use in UK waters have zero-emission propulsion capability and proposals for a series of clean maritime clusters.

But the Committee is calling on DfT to bring forward the refreshed Clean Maritime Plan "without further delay", noting that DfT itself acknowledged in its first draft of the plan that "the market may benefit from further policy certainty."

Moreover, the Transport Committee is calling for the government to make long term investments to scale-up the technologies which will be required for the shipping sector, and therefore the wider economy, to deliver net zero emissions.

Research and development funding "can only take innovation so far", the Committee argued, warning that further state investment is needed to deliver new green shipping technologies at scale. For example, it said the government needs to go "over and above" the match funding which ministers announced in February 2023 to improve shoreside electrical power suppliers to help cut emissions from vessels in port.

The Committee has also called for more support for 'smart shipping' technologies, which provide vessels with autonomous navigation capabilities that can significantly enhance fuel efficiency. Despite plans outlined in the 2022 Queen's Speech which mentioned "new laws that safely enable… remotely operated vehicles and vessels", the Committee said it was informed in December plans for new legislation had been quietly shelved.

"The necessary reforms must be legislated for at the earliest opportunity so that a major commercial opportunity for UK innovators - at the forefront to date - is not lost," the Committee warned.

In addition, it has recommended that DfT publish the outcome of its consultation on maritime autonomy and remote operations as soon as possible so that the sector has a clearer understanding of the regulatory framework it will be operating within.

Overall, the Committee has argued that the Maritime 2050 strategy is too "muddled" in that it contains so many recommendations that it "appears to lack clear priorities and focus."

The Committee also suggested that more distinction is needed between which of the original strategy's 184 recommendations are specific actions and which are aspirations.

"The UK, and the Solent region in particular, is a world leader in maritime autonomy," said Huw Gullick, the National Oceanography Centre's (NOC) associate director of NOC innovations. "The sector has benefited in the past from an absence of regulation in testing and scaling up new technologies. But to now take the industry forward, we need the regulation to catch up and the Committee is right to push the government on this. We have the right technology, and scale can only now be achieved with the regulation that supports this fast-moving sector. The UK can harness first mover advantage to drive autonomy to the next exciting stage in the ocean space."

However, the government is reportedly preparing a wave of new climate policy announcements that are set to be unveiled before the end of the month ahead of a High Court deadline for Ministers to update the UK's Net Zero Strategy, after judges ruled the original version lacked sufficient detail.

A spokesperson for DfT said: "We are pleased the Transport Select Committee recognises the maritime sector's significant contribution to the UK and the work that has gone into developing the strategy.

"We want to build on the good progress in delivering Maritime 2050 and look forward to responding to the report in due course."