Responding at the recent call of the four international trade associations at IMO for ambitious CO2 reductions from shipping, leading analysts and a coalition of clean shipping groups warned that the industry is finally sailing in the right direction on climate change but far too slowly.
Maurice Meehan, Director of Global Shipping Operations, Carbon War Room, specifically commented that “the objectives lack the ambition that the world expects of the shipping industry”.
“This position effectively states that from today until 2050, overall GHG emissions levels will stay roughly where they were at their height in 2008”, he said. “The Paris Agreement has set the world on a 2-degree trajectory and shipping must make goals in line with this, which equate to a 50% reduction in actual annual GHG emissions by 2050, not just operational efficiency goals which fails to account for future growth in the sector.
He also noted that shipping should be aligned with the Paris Agreement’s goals, which sould be part of the strategy announced in 2018.
Faig Abbasov, Clean Shipping Coalition, pointed out that a real leadership and not just decorative words is what the industry really needs, in order to reach a global climate deal.
“No commitment to cap and reduce global emissions in absolute terms by at least 50% by 2050 compared to current levels is hardly a break from business as usual. The industry’s ‘ambitious’ proposal explicitly refuses this commitment. It is high time to shape up or ship out”, he concluded.
