Action urged on ships’ carbon emissions
UK is committed to cutting all its climate-changing emissions by 80%by 2050 Greenhouse gas emissions from shipping should be included in the UK's climate change budgets, the Committee on Climate Change has recommended.Under the Climate Change Act, the UK is committed to cutting all its climate-changing emissions by 80% - based on 1990 levels - by 2050.But international aviation and shipping emissions are not currently included.If the government agrees, it will mean tighter targets for other sectors such as motoring and electricity generation."Shipping could account for up to 10% of emissions allowed under the 2050 target, and that says this is a material issue," said Committee on Climate Change (CCC) chief executive David Kennedy.The CCC's report says there are many ways for shipping to curb its carbon footprint - by improving fuel efficiency, deploying kites or sails, or allocating vessels more efficiently.Some companies are already developing such techniques.Tight budgets The CCC has recommended - and the government has adopted - a series of carbon budgets setting down the maximum scale of greenhouse gas emissions that the UK can emit over successive five-year periods.They are designed as staging posts on the way to the 2050 target.If the government does agree to ...
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