Shipping Industry Welcomes New UN Climate Change Agreement: ICS

The UN's exclusion of language on shipping from a new climate change agreement won't be a barrier to progress on emissions, says ICS.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) Monday welcomed the adoption of the COP21 climate deal reached in Paris this past weekend.

ICS acknowledged that some observers were "disappointed" by the exclusion of specific language on shipping emissions from the agreement, and indeed ICS said it had hoped for official recognition on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) continuing to develop further CO2 reduction measures.

"But nothing is really lost," said ICS Secretary General Peter Hinchliffe.

"No text is probably preferable to some of the well intentioned words being proposed at the very end of the Conference which few people understood and which could have actually greatly complicated further progress at IMO.

"I am sure IMO Member States will now proceed with new momentum to help the industry deliver ever greater CO2 reductions, as the world moves towards total decarbonisation by the end of the Century."

ICS noted that the shipping industry "remains committed" to targets of reducing carbon dioxide per tonne-km by at least 50 percent before 2050, as compared to 2007.

It was also said that IMO should continue to lead regulation of the shipping sector in order to ensure application of new rules evenly across both developed and developing nations.

"Unilateral or regional regulation would be disastrous for shipping and disastrous for global CO2 reduction, whereas IMO is already helping shipping to deliver substantial CO2 reductions on a global basis," said Hinchliffe.

ICS said it now plans to "engage meaningfully" on carbon dioxide reduction targets for shipping at IMO discussions expected to begin at the next MEPC meeting in April 2016.

The organization also said it is pushing for IMO to finalise a global carbon dioxide data collection system for ships, which it wants to become mandatory "as soon as possible."

On Monday, Ship & Bunker reported that green groups including Seas At Risk, Carbon Market Watch, Transport & Environment, and Carbon War Room had all voiced their disappointment at the lack of any reference to shipping emissions in the final COP21 climate deal text.