Μake us preferred on Google Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS) President Melina Travlos is calling for realistic and effective policies to reduce shipping emissions, in statements ahead of critical International Maritime Organization (IMO) negotiations in London next week.
In an interview with Lloyd’s List, published Thursday, Travlos said the shipping industry must decarbonize but argued that regulation should accelerate the transition without imposing costs that fail to produce meaningful environmental gains.
“For shipping, the question is not whether it should decarbonize. It must, and it will,” Travlos said, according to Lloyd’s List. She argued that the focus should now be on whether international policies will help the industry make the transition or simply increase costs without delivering comparable environmental benefits.
Her comments come ahead of the IMO meeting in London from Sept. 1-4, where governments are expected to continue efforts to resolve differences over the organization’s Net-Zero Framework.
Travlos has become increasingly critical of the framework, arguing that shipping needs a single, workable global system that takes account of the availability and affordability of alternative fuels. In an earlier statement ahead of the negotiations, she said the industry remained firmly committed to decarbonization but that its targets must be grounded in reality.
She also called for greater transparency over how revenue from the European Union’s emissions trading system is used. Shipping has been included in the EU ETS since 2024, requiring companies to surrender allowances covering part of their greenhouse gas emissions.
Travlos said the billions paid by shipping could be used not only to support the sector’s transition away from fossil fuels but also for measures with direct environmental benefits, including reforestation, wildfire prevention, drones, firefighting aircraft and equipment for firefighters.
Her argument comes against the backdrop of the major wildfires that have affected Greece and other parts of Europe in recent years. She has argued that climate policy should be judged by its measurable environmental results rather than simply by the amount of regulation imposed.
Travlos also maintains that shipping faces a disproportionate regulatory burden compared with other transport sectors. She has pointed to the much larger contribution of road transport to global greenhouse gas emissions, while arguing that shipping has fewer mature technological options for rapid decarbonization.
The IMO’s proposed Net-Zero Framework has drawn particularly strong criticism from the Greek shipping industry. Travlos has described the current framework as fundamentally unsuitable and has backed an alternative approach that would provide a single global mechanism while taking account of the economic realities facing shipowners and the availability of alternative fuels.
Greek shipowners have also backed a joint proposal by Panama and Liberia that seeks to replace the existing framework with a measure based on the affordability and availability of green fuels. The Union of Greek Shipowners has argued that failure to reach a workable global agreement could result in regulatory fragmentation and distort competition in international shipping.
The IMO meeting in London is scheduled for Sept. 1-4.
