Tag: UNFCCC

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reported  that ahead of an upcoming United Nations climate conference in Paris, world leaders have voiced broad support for reaching a durable agreement that will accelerate investments in clean energy and spur a global, low-carbon transformation well before the end of the century, consistent with a below 2 degrees Celsius pathway.“Leaders expressed their resolve to finalize a durable, meaningful agreement in Paris that applies to all countries,” Mr. Ban told reporters following a high-level working lunch held on the margins of the UN Sustainable Development Summit, which opened in New York on Friday.The Summit, which has adopted the landmark new sustainability blueprint, Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – composed of 17 goals and 169 targets to wipe out poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate over the next 15 years – is also being seen as an opportunity to continue momentum ahead of the Twenty-first meeting of States Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), informally known as COP 21, taking place in the French capital this December.“Our meeting today was not a negotiation, but an informal gathering to inject greater political energy,” explained the UN chief at a press conference ...

EU Member States show their trust in IMO's ability to deliver important results in the regulation regarding the greenhouse emissions from international shipping. “The EU Council’s decision to entrust the IMO with the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from international shipping is a vote of confidence in the international organisation’s ability to deliver” claimed Patrick Verhoeven, ECSA Secretary General following the adoption of the EU Member States’ negotiating position at the UNFCCC in Paris (COP 21).Commenting on the progress made, Mr Verhoeven said that“the IMO has already delivered important results and is making great efforts, which should, in our opinion, be encouraged, not undermined. Its work guarantees both global coverage and a level playing field, without which, efforts to reduce GHG emissions from ships would be counterproductive. Amendments to MARPOL Annex VI and the adoption of the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) make international shipping the only industrial sector already covered by mandatory and binding global measures”.Benoît Loicq, ECSA Maritime Safety and Environment Director added:“The Member States’ position adopted last Friday also ties in with the official EU approach with regard to the reduction of CO2 from international shipping”.The EU has indeed made headway in contributing to the international process ...

 In advance of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December, the global shipping industry, as represented by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), has launched some key messages to government negotiators, explaining the impressive progress the industry is making to reduce its carbon footprint. A new ICS fact sheet ‘Delivering CO2 Emission Reductions: Shipping is Part of the Solution’ can be downloaded at by clicking here.According to ICS, the global industry is already delivering carbon neutral growth having reduced total CO2 emissions by more than 10% since 2007, despite an increase in maritime trade. CO2 emissions from international shipping now represent just 2.2% of the world’s total CO2 emissions compared to 2.8% in 2007 (UN IMO Green House Gas Study, 2014).“These are genuine reductions through fuel efficiency, without the need for complex virtual measures such as carbon offsets,” said ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe.“With bigger ships, better engines and smarter speed management, the industry is confident of a 50% CO2 reduction by 2050 when the entire world fleet will comprise super fuel-efficient ships, many using clean fuels such as LNG.”But in the run-up to the Paris Conference, the shipping industry recognises that governments expect more. Shipping’s global regulator, the UN International Maritime ...

 Transport & Environment reports that the heads of 7 of the 8 political groups of the European Parliament's environment committee have written to the Environment Ministers of the 28 EU countries urging them to include international shipping and aviation in a global climate deal at Paris. The heads of the political groups on the Environment Committee said:  "To promote increased climate ambition from ICAO and IMO, like all the other sectors of the global economy, aviation and international shipping require an emissions reduction target. There is no reasonable excuse to continue exempting these two economy sectors from the global policy framework. Aviation and shipping need to contribute in the same way that is required of all UNFCCC Parties, large and small." The Environment Ministers of the 28 European member states will be meeting on 18 September to finalise the EU position for COP21. Sotiris Raptis, clean shipping officer at sustainable transport group Transport & Environment, commented:  "It's simply fair to demand from two economic sectors with emissions the size of Germany and South Korea to reduce CO2 emissions in line with keeping the global temperature increase below 2 degrees celsius. The IMO and ICAO have been procrastinating so far. The time for action has come."The European Parliament called last week for the establishment of an EU 2030 emissions reduction target ...

  In early June,  major oil and gas companies, BG Group plc, BP plc, Eni S.p.A., Royal Dutch Shell plc, Statoil ASA and Total SA, announced their call to governments around the world and to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to introduce carbon pricing systems and create clear, stable, ambitious policy frameworks that could eventually connect national systems. These would reduce uncertainty and encourage the most cost effective ways of reducing carbon emissions widely. The six companies set out their position in a joint letter from their chief executives to the UNFCCC Executive Secretary and the President of the COP21. This comes ahead of the UNFCCC’s COP21 climate meetings in Paris this December. With this unprecedented joint initiative, the companies recognize both the importance of the climate challenge and the importance of energy to human life and well-being. They acknowledge the current trend of greenhouse gas emissions is in excess of what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says is needed to limit global temperature rise to no more than 2 degrees Centigrade, and say they are ready to contribute solutions. As the chief executives write:“Our industry faces a challenge: we need to meet greater energy ...

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) the worldwide trade association for shipowners has made an important written submission to the United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO) suggesting a possible way forward with respect to complex discussions about additional global regulations to further reduce CO2 emissions from merchant ships.

International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has issued new brochure on Shipping, World Trade and Reduction of CO2 Emissions.

Greenhouse gases: 2011 emissions lower than previously estimated

Governments meeting in Bonn embark on next steps Governments meeting in Bonn embark on next steps following historic Durban Climate Change ConferenceBonn, 14 May 2012 - Building on the historic results of the Durban Climate Change Conference last year, governments on Monday embarked on the next essential steps required to curb global greenhouse gas emissions and help developing countries adapt to the inevitable effects of climate change.The meeting will be the first opportunity to assess and to continue to implement the results of the Durban conference, and is also designed to prepare decisions for adoption at the UN Climate Change Conference in Doha at the end of 2012."Durban was a turning point, where governments agreed tasks and timelines that give the best chance of avoiding the worst of future climate change. We now need to maintain the momentum, to constantly keep turning political decisions into action," said Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary.Ms. Figueres said that the meeting in Durban had put the world on a clear path towards greater ambition, yet a gap still remained between the agreed goal of a maximum 2 degrees Celsius global temperature rise and the current, global effort to stay below that level. According to ...