Shipping Emissions Cap Added Back Into Draft Paris Climate Deal

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Tuesday October 27, 2015

A cap on emissions for the shipping and aviation sectors has been added back into the draft version of the global climate deal expected to be signed later this year in Paris, sustainability group Transport & Environment (T&E) has announced

That particular piece of legislation was reportedly cut from the draft earlier this month, a move which sparked outcry from some environmental groups. 

"The latest text is the result of developed and developing countries cooperating on this issue for the first time," said Bill Hemmings, clean shipping and aviation manager at T&E.

"There is real hope now that Paris will close these gaping loopholes."

The organization added that the language in the draft version still needs to be strengthened if leaders expect to have a meaningful impact on climate change. 

"The Paris Agreement must send a clear signal – not a passing reference – to the UN bodies regulating these emissions, ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) and IMO (International Maritime Organization), that time is up and action is now due.

The 2 degree global warming limit becomes next to impossible if Paris gives these sectors a free pass." 

T&E, along with other groups, have becoming increasingly vocal about imposing hard emission limits on the aviation and shipping sectors this year. 

However, Ship & Bunker reported last month that the IMO has taken the opposite side in advocating for no hard limits to be introduced, instead arguing that a cap would overly affect the shipping sector financially.