The International Chamber of Shipping has argued that the International Maritime Organization must address the impacts of trade and sustainable development on developing nations in any CO2 reduction efforts implemented.
Although developing nations have less responsibility for reducing CO2 under the Paris Agreement, in shipping any measures apply to all ships to prevent carbon leakage. Developing additional CO2 reduction efforts with this in mind is both technically and politically complex according to ICS.
In its 2017 annual review, ICS states that it aims to develop a consensus for reducing CO2 emissions that will be acceptable to all its member national shipowners’ associations. It hopes to develop a road map for CO2 reduction and expects the IMO to adopt an initial strategy in 2018 to meet emissions reduction targets while ensuring sustainable development of the world economy.
In its review, ICS also reiterates the need for the IMO to adopt aspirational objectives for the shipping sector as a whole and not just set targets for individual ships. This approach is vital to ensuring that shipping contributes to the reduction of CO2 as part of the Paris Agreement.
Progress has been made but ICS believes society at large and many governments now expect the IMO to deliver even more. This is even more so as shipping, and aviation, are not covered by the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to which governments have committed as part of the Paris Agreement. The IMO must therefore address CO2 emissions from shipping.
ICS also reports that ensuring compliance of the ballast water management convention is expected to cost US $100bn. It says however that the years of delay of implementing the convention should have given shipowners some certainty regarding the decisions to be made on what equipment to fit and whether to send older ships for early recycling.
Other topics covered in the review include ship recycling, piracy, flag state performance, UN sustainable development goals, trade facilitation, and others.
View the ICS 2017 annual review here.
Fathom-News
editor@fathom-mi.com
