In a submission to the International Maritime Organization, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, has called for the setting of a new global target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping, a growing sector currently left out of international climate negotiations.
The Marshall Island’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Tony de Brum issued the following statement regarding the submission to the Maritime Environment Protection Committee’s 68th session in May:
“The goal of keeping global temperature rise under 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius requires action from all countries, and all sectors of the global economy. International shipping must be part of the action. While the sector currently contributes only 2-3 per cent of global emissions, its projected growth is a real cause for concern. Without urgent action, it is estimated that the sector could soon account for between 6 and 14 percent of global emissions – as much as the entire European Union emits today.”
“Back under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, only industrialized countries were instructed to work with the International Maritime Organization to take coordinated action to limit shipping emissions. Since then, we have seen too little movement on the issue, and global shipping emissions have continued to rise unabated.”
“We are an island nation and shipping is one of our lifelines – we cannot survive without it. At the same time, carbon emissions, including those from shipping, pose an existential threat to our people and our country.”
“Once again, the Marshall Islands is determined to lead by example. We want to put ourselves at the forefront of the transition towards a low carbon transport future. We are the first country in the Pacific to set a transport efficiency target for ourselves – a 20 percent cut in the use of fossil fuels for domestic transport by 2020, and we are exploring other ways to green our international registry.”
“But the actions of one or small group of registries alone will not be enough. Ships these days can jump easily from flag to flag to avoid tougher standards. Cleaning up this global industry requires a global approach. With a strong wind blowing in the climate action sails en route to Paris, the IMO must move to set a sector-wide international shipping emissions target now.”
The Republic of the Marshall Islands, joined by over 100 other vulnerable nations, has long called for global warming to be limited to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. To achieve this goal, anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions need to be phased down to near zero by mid-Century, which will require significant emission reductions across all economic sectors.
At present, international shipping emissions are not addressed by negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) because countries have not been able to agree on how to allocate emissions among the countries involved. Only if the emissions were allocated could individual countries assume responsibility to reduce them pursuant to their emission reduction commitments under the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol. As a result, the Parties to the UNFCCC have looked to the International Maritime Organization to take forward initiatives to reduce emissions from the global shipping sector. Initial efforts have focused on fuel efficiency standards for new ships and compulsory energy efficiency management plans for all ships. But recent studies have shown that such measures are insufficient to achieve reductions consistent with limiting global warming to below the globally agreed limit of 2 degrees Celsius, and that a clear overall target for the sector is needed to drive the necessary deeper emissions cuts.
Shipping currently contributes around two to three per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. If the shipping sector were a country, it would rank as an emitter on the scale of Germany or Japan. But the projected increase in emissions over time gives greatest cause for alarm. Under current policies, emissions are expected to increase by 50 to 250 percent by 2050, which would be equivalent to between 6 to 14 per cent of total global emissions – roughly equivalent to the emissions of the entire European Union today. While other sectors are looking to peak in 2020 and decline for the next 30 years, none of the “business as usual” scenarios for international shipping foresee a peak in shipping emissions before 2050. According to the 3rd IMO GHG Study, this would make a limit of global warming to below 1.5 unachievable.
For small island states, sea transport is essential for connectivity and all aspects of island life. But global emissions continue to rise, and current projections are for 3 to 4 degrees of global warming, which would produce enough sea-level rise to put the Marshall Islands and other low-lying countries and regions under water. The effects of climate change on the island countries of the Pacific are clearly evident, and for some, their very existence is under grave threat.
In the months leading up to this December’s UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, nations are being asked to make ambitious post-2020 commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Pacific island nations are joining this effort, building on the ambitious targets they put forward under the Majuro Declaration for Climate Leadership, which was the result of the 2013 Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting hosted in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Given its growing significance as a pollution source, it is important that the international shipping sector keeps pace with the international momentum for climate action, and is not left behind as a major polluting sector while the rest of the world economy moves down an accelerating decarbonisation pathway. RMI’s submission to the IMO Marine Environmental Protection Committee’s 68th Session makes the case that it is time for the UN agency charged with regulation of international shipping to take ambitious and decisive action consistent with emissions trajectories that can avoid dangerous climate change.
Source: Republic of the Marshall Islands
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