France, Germany, Morocco, the Marshall Islands, Belgium and the Solomon Islands are calling on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to encourage the shipping industry’s fair share of contribution towards efforts to tackle global climate change.
This comes as pressure mounts on the UN shipping body to develop a greenhouse gas emissions strategy for the sector.
Pressure has continued to swell since the COP21 negotiations last December. The COP21 discussions agreed that by controlling emissions through national carbon-cutting plans, global warming should be kept to a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius. However, shipping was not included, leaving the industry in an uncertain state regarding its role.
The six countries are supporting a proposal to be considered at the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) 69 meeting scheduled to take place this month.
The proposal stipulates that global climate change can only be halted if all sectors contribute. Without the input of the shipping industry, other sectors will have an increased burden to mitigate the impact of shipping on the environment.
At the current time the IMO is only on phase one of a three-phase approach that was put forward by the United States to collect data and establish a monitoring framework before any regulations are officially decided. Emissions targets have been discussed with several countries in support. Previously concerns have been raised about the processes involved, however, to date the industry is seeing increased interest and support for an emissions target.
For instance, the International Chamber of Shipping, which has supported in principle the Marshall Islands call last year for a sector-wide CO2 cap, has recommended the IMO submit a formal contribution to the UN climate body.
Furthermore, the Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI), which is highly committed to reducing climate change and has supporters such as Maersk and Cargill, has published a green vision for the sector involving 20% cuts in fuel use every decade and according to Alastair Fischbacher, CEO, SSI, a work plan to define shipping’s fair share “must be the minimum outcome” of this month’s MEPC session.
Last year, the Marshall Islands unsuccessfully lobbied for the IMO to consider a climate target. Therefore, it will be interesting to see what transpires this year following the discussions at COP21.
MEPC 69 will convene from 18-22 April 2016 at the IMO headquarters, London.
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