Decarbonisation

The Gothenburg Decarbonisation Discussion Papers

Decarbonisation is one of the most significant challenges of our era. The maritime industry has increasingly become aware of the role it’s called upon to play, mostly as a result of the regulatory initiatives of the International Maritime Organisation and the European Union. However, the legal and contractual issues that arise, i.e., private law aspects as opposed to regulatory aspects, have not attracted sufficient attention yet.

The international community of maritime lawyers clearly has an important role to play in decarbonisation. In these circumstances, the Comité Maritime International created an International Working Group on Maritime Decarbonisation in July 2023, appointing Mr Haris Zografakis as Chair. The steering committee consists of Mr Haris Zografakis, Dr Jolien Kruit, Prof. Charles Debattista and Mr Neil Henderson.

The IWG’s activities are split in three separate, but related, workstreams: “Green Fuels” (on issues of civil liability for non-hydrocarbon fuels), “Green Contracts” (an outline of some contractual adaptations that decarbonisation may require) and “Green Vessels” (introducing definitions as to “readiness” of ships to consume new fuels).

The work of the IWG was presented at the CMI Colloquium in Gothenburg in May 2024 and is summarised in three Discussion Papers (“The Gothenburg Decarbonisation Discussion Papers”), in each of the workstreams, which can be found below.

The co-authors of the Gothenburg Decarbonisation Discussion Papers were (in alphabetical order):
Helen Barden, UK (England)
Mark Broekhuisen, The Netherlands
Alexandra Couvadelli, UK (England) and Greece
Charles Debattista, UK (England)
Daniel-Luc Farrugia, Malta
Nick Gaskell, Australia
Neil Henderson, UK (England)
Jolien Kruit, The Netherlands
Chul-Won Lee, Korea
Hannah Mosmans, The Netherlands
Niko Oertel, The Netherlands and Germany
Andrew Rigden Green, UK (England) and Hong Kong
Shohei Tezuka, Japan
Henry Zhu, China
Haris Zografakis, UK (England)

The Gothenburg Decarbonisation Discussion Papers represent the first phase of the IWG’s work. The second phase will include more detailed analysis, involving – as and where appropriate – associations and organisations that can work with the CMI to address the issues identified.

The Gothenburg Decarbonisation Discussion Papers Note from the Chair

CMI IWG Chair Note July 2024