Paris Climate Target "Impossible" Without Shipping Emissions Reductions, Say NGOs

Seas At Risk and T&E have called emissions from shipping, along with aviation, the "elephant in the room" in international climate talks.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Seas At Risk and Transport & Environment (T&E), members of the Clean Shipping Coalition (CSC), Tuesday in an emailed press release said the 1.5/2°C global warming limit agreed to during the COP 21 climate summit and Paris "will be impossible to meet" unless the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and Europe implement emission reduction measures for the shipping industry.

As Ship & Bunker reported in November, Seas At Risk, T&E, and the Marine Conservation Society all called emissions from shipping, along with aviation, the "elephant in the COP21 negotiations room."

Further, upon the release of the final draft agreement at COP 21, green groups were quick to highlight the lack of reference to any shipping or aviation emissions.

The two NGO's say that the IMO "has so far failed to grasp the nettle on shipping's growing contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions."

John Maggs, senior policy advisor at Seas At Risk, commenting on the current status of shipping emissions regulations, said "there is no reasonable excuse to continue exempting the sector from the global and EU climate policies."

"That shipping needs to make its fair share of cuts to keep global warming well below 2 degrees is not negotiable after Paris."

As Ship & Bunker reported Wednesday, IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim met with EU Commissioners on Tuesday in Brussels to discuss climate change and cooperative efforts to reduce shipping emission.

"We are sure Secretary-General Kitack Lim fully understands the need for the IMO to act now," said Sotiris Raptis, shipping officer at T&E.

"The EU in parallel needs to include shipping in its 2030 reduction commitment now and in the EU ETS or in an EU climate fund from 2021."

In January, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) called for shipping, along with aviation, to be subject to a global carbon tax scheme, saying "substantial amounts" could be raised from charges on both bunkers and aviation fuels.