The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is developing additional measures to reduce CO2 emissions from shipping, and the UN Climate Conference in Lima (December 1-12 ) needs to maintain its support for IMO as the principal forum for addressing emissions from maritime transport, which cannot be attributed to individual national economies, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) said.
ICS emphasises that any decision, for example, on whether to develop a Market Based Measure for shipping that might be linked to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) should be a matter for IMO Member States. IMO will be best placed to develop an approach that can reconcile the UNFCCC principle of ‘Common But Differentiated Responsibility (CBDR)’ – whereby developing countries are treated differently – with the need for all ships, regardless of flag, to be treated in a uniform manner, said ICS.
Shipping is a global industry requiring rules on CO2 to be applied on a global basis to all ships. Apart from preventing market distortion in this totally globalised sector, this is necessary to avoid ‘carbon leakage’ since only about 35% of the world fleet is registered with those developed nations that are covered by emission reduction commitments under the existing Kyoto Protocol on climate change prevention.
The position of the shipping industry remains that any contribution by shipping to the GCF must reflect the sector’s modest contribution to total global CO2 emissions. ICS is firmly opposed to any suggestion that the shipping industry should collectively pay tens of billions of dollars each year, stressing that the industry is not a ‘cash cow’.
The global shipping industry, which transports around 90% of world trade, only produced about 2.2% of the world’s total Green House Gas emissions during 2012 compared to 2.8% in 2007. Shipping’s total emissions have reduced by more than 10% during the same period. The ICS says that the industry is on track to reduce its emissions by more than 20% by 2020 (compared to 2005) with further reductions going forward.
Press Release; Image: UN