The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has welcomed the Paris Agreement and have stated that they remain committed to ambitious CO2 emissions reductions for the entire world merchant fleet.
Despite the absence of reference to shipping in the Paris Agreement, ICS says that they are still committed to reducing CO2 per tonne km by at least 50% before 2050 compared to 2007. ICS is also pushing for the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to finalise a global CO2 data collection system for ships, which ICS would like to see mandatory as soon as possible.
ICS has also said that dramatic CO2 reductions from shipping will only be guaranteed if further regulation continues to be led by the IMO.
According to Peter Hinchliffe, ICS Secretary General: “Time finally ran out to agree a compromise on international transport acceptable to all nations, but nothing is really lost. No text is probably preferable to some of the well intentioned words being proposed at the very end of the Conference which few people understood and which could have actually greatly complicated further progress at IMO.
The Member States at IMO are the same nations that were present in Paris, but with officials that have a deep level of maritime expertise. Intensive work at IMO will continue with the global shipping industry’s full support.”
