A coalition of ship owners, operators, logistics businesses, suppliers to the maritime industry, industry associations, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have called upon the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to ensure that shipping emissions are acted upon in next week’s 70th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC).
The 171 heads of state that represent member countries of the IMO have received a letter signed by 51 organisations from within international shipping asking for their help in securing increased environmental legislation for the industry.
The letter urges the IMO to match the ambition of pace of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to establish shipping’s fair share of the global responsibility to address climate change and take ambitious actions to help drive investment in low carbon solutions.
At the current time there is no international treaty for shipping on climate change, or any country-specific emissions reduction legislation and according to the IMO’s GHG Emissions Report 2014, emissions from the industry may rise by up to 250% by 2050.
According to the Global Shippers Forum, ship owners need clear incentives to provide cleaner vessels, and there needs to be a clear goal on emissions. Maersk added that although they are striving to reach a 60% reduction by 2020, it is becoming more and more difficult to drive CO2 reduction by themselves, and therefore global regulation is essential.
John Kornerup Bang, Chief Advisor Climate Change, Maersk, commented: “It is crucial that IMO moves beyond data collection and establishes an ambitious and accelerated process to determine shipping’s ‘fair share’ of emissions, which will allow for subsequent definitions of long-term targets and market-based mechanisms”.
Hamburg Bulk Carriers stated that they have joined the letter in order to support a mature and positive attitude towards industry emissions reductions and promote sustainability. Capt. Stefan Bülow, Managing Director, HBC Hamburg Bulk Carriers GmbH & Co. KG commented: “This presents a significant opportunity to our community and with IMO’s direction we can act on a level playing field and embrace it together.”
The Royal Belgian Shipowners’ Association agreed that more action is needed to meet the ambitions of the Paris Agreement: “There are still many hurdles to overcome and instead of debating what needs to be done, the time has come for all stakeholders to closely collaborate to develop a clear long-term decarbonisation strategy that will help to drive investment in low-carbon solutions. We believe that this letter calls on IMO to advance this endeavor.
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