MEPs participating in the 71th session of the Marine Environment Protection committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization in London gave their views on the ongoing talks on Wednesday, 5 July.
European Parliament delegation leader, José Inácio Faria, noted that the shipping sector has a vital role to play in the global challenge of climate change, equally as all the other sectors, pointing out that if the IMO does not present a global solution to reduce shipping emissions, the EU will have to set up its own scheme.
“Parliament is paying much attention to what is going on in the IMO. While we have been used to talks without any results, we want the IMO to come forward with concrete measures”.
In his turn, Mr Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA, NL) stressed that although there has been a lack of progress so far, this week showed that there is a change in the atmosphere of the talks. He also praised the Pacific Islands that managed to elevate the discussion to a political level, by bringing their ministers, pushing for results.
“We would like a vision: where is the maritime sector going to on climate action? Then, we need objectives, and we need measures, including immediate ones. A working group will put forward, by Friday, the ingredients of the future strategy to be adopted in 2018. We want to see those ingredients, but it’s not sure they will be there” he added.
MEPs met with MEPC chair Arsenio A. Dominguez, attended the plenary meeting and discussed ways to tackle the rising emissions from maritime transport with representatives of major flag states, such as Bahamas, Japan, Liberia and Singapore. They also met with NGO representatives and the High Ambition Coalition.
