The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) has called for the IMO and its member States to demonstrate commitment to the Paris Agreement’s objective of keeping global warming below two degrees.
This call for action comes ahead of the 70th session of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) Meeting which will be held between October 24-28.
This demonstration of commitment can be achieved by adopting a detailed IMO roadmap for establishing shipping’s ‘fair share’ of global emission reductions, says the SSI.
The SSI also believes that the baseline for setting emissions reduction targets should be founded upon data from the IMO’s third GHG study (2014), and not linked to ongoing data collection and analysis from a global Measuring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) scheme. They say that using the MRV scheme will only delay the urgent action that is required.
In an official press release, the SSI stated:
“IMO’s ‘fair share’ discussions should lead to the swift establishment of reduction targets, titled ‘Intended IMO Determined Contributions’, which should be submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in order to align IMO’s work with that of the UNFCCC.
Defining shipping’s ‘fair share’ of CO2 reductions must be balanced between the required ambition to deliver on the Paris Agreement, and the need to be equitable and affordable for the industry, as well as enforceable on a global basis to ensure change.”
Ian Petty, General Manager, SSI said: “The industry cannot achieve this alone through enhanced efficiency. It needs help from legislators to create a level global playing field, which will help incentivise the much-needed innovation in the industry. A minimum requirement at the forthcoming MEPC 70 meeting is to adopt a process to define shipping’s fair share of CO2 emissions reductions.”
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