New global shipping initiative launches to accelerate the transition beyond methane-based fuels
October 9, 2025 | London, UK | Maritime Beyond Methane (MARBEM) – a new global initiative that works with policy experts, financial analysts, economists and research institutions dedicated to aligning global climate ambition with maritime leadership – launched today to accelerate the shipping industry's transition beyond methane-based fuels.
Maritime Beyond Methane is an initiative, with partners in 13 countries, focused on the LNG supply chain, including fossil, bio- and e-LNG, to clarify regulations, technologies, and analyze the trends influencing maritime decarbonization. Maritime Beyond Methane provides independent evidence-based data that enables and encourages the sector to make tangible commitments towards future-ready shipping solutions.
Methane, a greenhouse gas 82 times more potent than CO₂ in the short-term, is the primary component in LNG. Methane emissions from LNG-fueled ships rose 180 percent between 2016 and 2023, underscoring the urgent need for informed action.
LNG continues to dominate ship engine uptake, with LNG-dual fuel vessels accounting for 55 percent of the current orderbook. If this trend continues, fossil gas could supply more than 10 percent of the energy used by the global maritime fleet by 2030. At the same time, misaligned solutions, such as e-methane/e-LNG and biomethane/bio-LNG, further risk locking the sector into long-term dependence on methane-based fuels, creating a barrier to the transition to a sustainable, zero-emission future.
The shipping sector is nearing a critical juncture to be able to move the dial on getting off LNG, and avoiding any alternative that enables locking-in methane and going farther down a pathway where monetary penalties, costly retrofits and early abandonment of vessels will get more severe with the continued use of methane-based fuels that have no real impact on decarbonizing shipping and addressing the climate crisis.
The global LNG-fueled fleet’s estimated 247,000 tons of methane emissions in 2023 translated to nearly US$950 million in annual climate damages — a near-fourfold increase from 2016, when the figure stood around US$250 million. This estimate builds on the U.S. EPA’s Social Cost of Methane, a monetary benchmark consistent with internationally recognized values, by incorporating the effects of ground-level ozone, a critical pollutant formed by methane. This figure still understates total harm, excluding other greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides, localized air quality, and non-fatal health outcomes such as asthma and hospitalizations.
In the months ahead, Maritime Beyond Methane will actively engage with the IMO, and with EU regulators through the FuelEU negotiations, to inform decisions in line with global climate ambition, supporting the advancement of regulatory frameworks that use informed decision-making that keeps the shipping sector on track towards a just, net-zero emissions future.
-
This month, Maritime Beyond Methane (MARBEM) is releasing two new research reports. Untangling LNG Shipping Finance analyzes global public finance institution investments into maritime LNG projects. Mapping Threats from LNG Tankers in Southern British Columbia, Canada quantifies the risks of LNG expansion on people, ecosystems and biodiversity along this value chain where two LNG export terminals are taking shape.
-
