NGOs voice to 29th IMO Assembly delegates “Don’t Let Shipping Emissions Be The Elephant In The COP21 Negotiations Room!”
Seas At Risk, Transport & Environment and the Marine Conservation Society have called on delegates of the 29th IMO Assembly and member states taking part in the upcoming Paris COP21 climate summit to act upon shipping industry CO2reduction targets for the new international climate change agreement which will be penned during COP21 negotiations.
Representatives of the NGOs handed out dossiers at IMO HQ in London yesterday that educated Assembly members on the fact that without considering the influence of ship Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in the Paris agreement and significant action to reduce emissions, shipping will consume a significant proportion of the 2 degree carbon budget and ultimately make it very challenging to meet climate stabilisation target. DOWNLOAD THE DOSSIER HERE
This targeted call follows findings published this month by the European Parliament in the ‘Emission Reduction Targets for International Aviation and Shipping’ study that revealed how shipping could become responsible for 17% of global CO2emissions in 2050 if left unregulated. READ MORE ABOUT THAT STUDY HERE
According to these three NGOs, two of which are members of the Clean Shipping Collation, an agreement at the Paris Climate Summit must send a clear signal to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) that reducing CO2 emissions is essential to help keep warming below dangerous levels. Seas At Risk believe that the IMO has thus far failed to grasp the nettle on shipping’s growing contribution to GHG emissions.
The International Chamber of Shipping has also agreed, arguing that the proposal for industry emissions cuts would fall short by 121% of what shipping really needs to do to help achieve the 2°C warming target limit.
John Maggs, policy advisor at Seas At Risk and President of the Clean Shipping Coalition commented: “Paris should be the moment when the world sets itself on a course that avoids dangerous climate change. To achieve this all will have to play their part; there is no room for shirking responsibility or special pleading, least of all from an industry like shipping that has so much untapped potential to reduce emissions and move to a low carbon business model.”
