The Daily View: Any volunteers?

THAT Shell and Chevron have handed in their membership of the Sea Cargo Charter is not that surprising; oil majors are under pressure to flee from anything green due to what they tend to call “the political situation in the US”.

Their dramatic exits from COP26-era pledges, and from moonshot projects in hydrogen and carbon capture, are one of the big climate stories of 2025 as the year comes to an end.

That is, of the industry learning (or perhaps being bold enough to admit) the limits of voluntary efforts, where only regulation will do.

The Poseidon Principles and Sea Cargo Charter continue to report on the green alignment of fleets. But they can’t reduce those fleets’ emissions when companies lack the technology, or indeed any commercial reason to cut them.

If companies don’t like the cost of staying the course, they can simply leave. Now two of them have.

The loss of Shell and Chevron is a blow to the Sea Cargo Charter. But one wonders how significant it is when there has been so little progress in the years since the club started.

Shipping has parcelled out each job in the supply chain into its own business, making it a marvel of efficiency, except on emissions, where no party is responsible for the collective harm.

And inefficiencies are good for brokers and traders, who are heavily represented in chartering. They usually lead to ships speeding up, and someone getting a big payday.

Until the supply chain can apportion the costs of pollution alongside profit, this will keep happening.

The bankers behind the Poseidon Principles say theirs is a long game, and that such partnerships help prepare the industry for the day when the green fuels finally come.

They argue that the march of history points towards decarbonisation, and that politics and technology will catch up eventually.

The green-shipping talking shops would do well to think of ways to encourage just-in-time arrivals and more efficient voyages while the industry waits for the International Maritime Organization to come to a decision on green fuels.

I wouldn’t expect an answer soon, though.

Declan Bush
Senior reporter, Lloyd’s List

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