March 18, 2024 – Coordinated protests erupted in the Netherlands, UK, France, and Canada in the lead up to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) meetings starting today. We are underscoring the urgency of unveiling the deceptive practices around Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), which is gaining popularity in the shipping industry as a ‘clean’ fuel.

In the European Union alone, consumption of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) by ships has doubled from 2.2 million tonnes (Mt) in 2018 to 4.4 Mt in 2022. This surge in uptake is a result of deceptive marketing that is promoting LNG as an alternative, clean fuel. LNG proponents are misleading the maritime sector and all of us – this is the gaslight of LNG. 

Tactics reminiscent of gaslighting – a form of psychological manipulation – are being used by LNG proponents to sow doubt and confusion around the use of LNG as a marine shipping fuel. They selectively fund research and cite studies supporting their claims, while discrediting those highlighting LNG’s environmental and social risks. They also publicly dismiss dissenting voices from communities and experts by labeling them “alarmists” or “obstructionists.”

LNG is more accurately described as liquefied fossil methane gas – LNG is composed of 85-95% methane. Methane is a strong greenhouse gas with about a 12-year atmospheric lifetime compared to centuries for CO2. Even though methane does not stick around for long, it is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) that absorbs 84 times more energy than CO2 in the atmosphere. 

Methane emissions not only exacerbate global warming in the short term but also decrease air quality. Additionally, increased demand for LNG — including in the maritime sector — leads to adverse land-based impacts, such as polluted drinking water, reduction in crop production, and higher premature death rates.

Between 2012 and 2018, methane emissions from LNG-fueled ships grew by 150 percent (Fourth IMO GHG Study 2020). One of the challenges of methane emissions associated with LNG vessels is its invisibility. The campaign partnered with SkyTruth to utilize mapping technology to illustrate the surge in LNG vessel traffic (see map below).

Real-world methane emissions from shipping also indicate that the sector’s contribution to climate change is larger than previously estimated. Despite the negative climate and environmental impacts, the shipping industry is projected to witness further growth in LNG demand, with the anticipated addition of about 160 to 500 new LNG-fueled vessels annually until 2030. 

According to the IPCC (AR6), addressing the climate emergency and its devastating impacts on people requires urgently tackling methane emissions in the near term. LNG proponents are gaslighting policymakers by strategically diminishing the real size of LNG’s climate and health impacts, jeopardizing a liveable future on this planet. 

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is the United Nations body regulating international shipping. Currently, no specific international regulations exist for methane emissions from ships. However, several opportunities exist to comprehensively integrate methane into the IMO’s regulatory framework during the upcoming 81st Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC81) meeting scheduled from March 18 to 22.

1. The IMO’s Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Guidelines: to ensure accountability for the real size of the shipping sector’s methane footprint, the default emission factor for methane slip must be 8.5% instead of the IMO’s current 3.5%.
2. GHG Fuel Standard: methane must be meaningfully included as a medium-term solution in the IMO GHG Fuel Standard being developed.
3. IMO’s GHG Reduction Strategy: to move beyond a CO2-centric approach, efficiency standards and the price of emissions must include other GHGs such as methane.