Tag: UNCCC

International measures for shipping emissions are needed Christian Breinholt, Deputy Director General of the Danish Maritime Authority was a guest speaker at the meeting. He made the case for the Danish proposal for a greenhouse gas convention introducing Market Based Measures for shipping.Looking for support from Greek owners he presented the mechanics and philosophy of the International Green House Gas Fund - a market based measure to address IMO's 'equal treatment' requirements with the UNFCCC's 'common but differentiated responsibilities' approach. It will take years to develop an international convention he said so we need to start now. 'From our perspective, we need a single, dedicated, mechanism for the global industry'. Mr. Breinholt said that the Danish proposal is becoming widely supported within the industry.One of Mr. Breinholt's comments, using Lloyd's Register research, was that without some form of market based measures, in the context of anticipated growth in trade even with massive energy efficiency improvements, shipping will be unable to reduce its total greenhouse gas emissions. Mr. Breinholt was persuasive and his comments were listened to with great interest by the committee.Lloyd's Register provided updates on shipbuilding activity world-wide, insight into efficient ship designs, as well as technical and operational ...

Bunker fuels more likely to be successful The international maritime sector remains firmly in the U.N's crosshairs when it comes to finding cash to fill a global fund to help poor countries tackle climate change.U.N. climate talks last week agreed the design of a Global Climate Fund to channel up to $100 billion a year by 2020 to poorer nations, but failed to make headway on where the money will come from to fill it.While a proposal to tax global shipping was dropped at the last minute at the talks in Durban, industry watchers say enough political momentum has built up and shipping will very likely become the fund's first source of financing."The writing is on the wall. Every independent report into innovate sources of finance for the GCF mentions revenues for the international maritime sector," said Andre Stochniol, a consultant on sustainable shipping.Shipping is seen as a clear target because it is not yet regulated under any international climate regime and is a new source of revenue that would not drain public purses of cash-strapped governments, he said."It is quite clear this is the most talked about idea as a potential source of revenue for the fund," agreed Lies ...

Launch of Green Fund and a Climate Technology Centre and Network The outcome from the Durban Climate Conference appears to have moved a step ahead in what is a difficult struggle to reach an international deal with which to handle the issue of climate change. The positive of it all is that all participating governments are committed to what could be regarded as a new platform for negotiations.In short, it was agreed that:a)the Kyoto Protocol should be extended for a number of years (2018)b)a new agreement should be concluded by 2015 and to be enforced by 2020c)a Green Fund and a Climate Technology Centre and Network should be launched.However, the tasks ahead are still challenging as all these projected agreements would need to be defined and agreed upon.The prolonging of the Kyoto Protocol is not a simple formality. Parties, including the 35 industrialised countries which also decided to be parties to this second period, will have to turn their economy-wide targets into quantified emission limitation or reduction objectives and submit them for review by May 1, 2012.There seems to be another challenge, too, namely that some of the current parties to the Kyoto Protocol, particularly Canada, indicate they may not ...

Agreement to define how the international community will address climate change Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the set of decisions reached by countries at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, saying they represent a significant agreement that will define how the international community will address climate change in the coming years.After extended negotiations over the weekend, the 194 parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) agreed on a package of decisions, known as the Durban Platform, which include the launch of a protocol or legal instrument that would apply to all members, a second commitment period for the existing Kyoto Protocol and the launch of the Green Climate Fund.In a statement issued by his spokesperson Mr. Ban said the new accord is "essential for stimulating greater action and for raising the level of ambition and the mobilization of resources to respond to the challenges of climate change."Mr. Ban also welcomed the agreement to establish a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, stating it will "increase certainty for the carbon market and provide additional incentives for new investments in technology and the infrastructure necessary to fight climate change."In addition, Mr. Ban said he was ...

Outcome of the Durban Climate Change Conference and what it means for IMO The United Nations Climate Change Conference has concluded its seventeenth session (COP 17/CMP 7) in Durban, South Africa, meeting from 28 November to the early hours of11 December 2011.As anticipated, the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), serving also as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, focused more on rallying political will for action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (in particular, the issue of the second commitment period for emission reductions under the Kyoto Protocol and the establishment and making operational of the Green Climate Fund, as decided under the Cancún Agreements of 2010), rather than on pushing ahead with the preparation and adoption of a legally binding instrument to that effect.As far as sectoral approaches are concerned, including international maritime transportation, the Conference noted the progress made by IMO in adopting, in July 2011, regulations on energy efficiency for ships under MARPOL Annex VI, as part of its three-pillar work plan to limit or reduce the emission of greenhouse gases from international shipping, as well as the Organization's continuing work on market-based measures.Although the question ...

ITF reacted with disappointmet for UN COP17 climate change conference Global union federation the ITF (International Transport Workers' Federation) reacted with disappointment to the failure of the UN COP17 climate change conference in Durban, South Africa, to deliver any progress on climate change so far.Speaking from the conference, ITF climate change coordinator Alana Dave reported: "Negotiations are at a complete standstill - despite us being in a situation where emissions are still rising, the forecasts are becoming increasingly grave, and extraordinary weather conditions are destroying jobs, homes and peoples' lives."She continued: "It seems as if narrow economic interests and pressure from multinationals, not least in the fossil fuel industry, are being allowed to override attempts to reach a binding agreement to protect our climate and the future of our planet.""Despite the enormous potential for change represented by this conference, and at a time when the International Energy Agency's chief economist is warning that we only have five years left to make radical changes to avoid dangerous climate change, this event is looking more and more like one more wasted opportunity."Commenting from Durban, Asbjorn Wahl, chair of the ITF climate change working group, explained: "There is an urgent need for a ...