The IMO Secretary General and other shipping industry organisations have commented on InfluenceMap’s report on shipping’s efforts to decarbonise*. Following this, the report authors have released a statement addressing these comments.
Responding to the WSC, who suggested it offers concrete proposals for short and long-term carbon reductions, InfluenceMap states that none of the proposals in the document include binding sector-wide greenhouse gas emissions reductions targets. furthermore, its statement on EEDI standards does not explicitly support increasing the strength of the EEDI standards. InfluenceMap also claims WSC has actively lobbied against the introduction of operational energy efficiency standards for shipping. WSC and InfluenceMap’s full comments can be read here.
Responding to ICS, InfluenceMap says that they find ICS, BIMCO and the WSC to not support GHG emissions actions wholly. For example, BIMCO and ICS rejected calls in a joint IMO submission to introduce a binding GHG emissions target and only supporting a voluntary aspirational reduction target. InfluenceMap also claims that in 2016, the ICS, BIMCO and the WSC co-sponsored an IMO policy submission that opposed the introduction of GHG emissions regulations for the shipping industry until 2023. This would be seven years after the Paris Accord and a full 26 years after the Kyoto Agreement granted the IMO the authority to regulate climate policy for shipping at the international level. Read ICS’ and InfluenceMap’s full responses here.
In response to the IMO’s Secretary-General, InfluenceMap states that the influence the shipping sector has over the IMO is clearly tilted in the favour of shipping industry interests. InfluenceMap also believes that its research shows the positions these corporate interests take suggest they are actively working to oppose meaningful policy progress to address the impact of the shipping sector on global climate change. Read the full statement in response to the IMO here.
InfluenceMap’s response to all three organisations and their initial comments made to InfluenceMap following the release of the report can be viewed by clicking any of the above links or by clicking here.
InfluenceMap’s report can be accessed here.
* The report suggested that individual companies are silent on climate risks and prefer to use BIMCO, the International Chamber of Shipping, and the World Shipping Council to do their lobbying for them. All three of whom have been criticised by InfluenceMap for not supporting advances in GHG emissions reduction, increased regulation on the Energy Efficiency Design Index, and low carbon policies.
Fathom-News
editor@fathom-mi.com
