António Guterres, the UN secretary general, said that shipping and airlines have failed to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.
Speaking during the Global Sustainable Transport conference, Mr. Guterres stated that:
While [UN] member states have made some initial steps through the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization to address emissions from shipping and aviation, current commitments are not aligned with the 1.5C goal of the Paris agreement. In fact, they are more consistent with warming way above 3C
Now, world leaders and governments will meet in Glasgow from 31 October for the COP26 summit on the climate crisis.
However, Mr. Guterres is determined that the both industries should not be allowed to duck out of global obligations to cut greenhouse gases.
Adopting a new set of more ambitious and credible targets that are truly consistent with the goals of the Paris agreement must be an urgent priority for both these bodies in the months and years ahead
Furthermore, he called for zero-emission ships to be made commercially available by 2030, and to become the default choice for all companies in order to achieve zero emissions in the shipping sector by 2050.
Talking about the comments Mr. Guterres made,Faïg Abbasov, the shipping director at the Transport and Environment thinktank, explained that:
António Guterres is right. International action on shipping and aviation has been pitiful to date. We need to stop relying on the ineffective IMO and ICAO and demand that states take responsibility for all their emissions
Continuing, Guy Platten, the secretary general of the International Chamber of Shipping, mentioned that the shipping industry is in full agreement that the IMO member states must push for more stringent emissions cuts across the sector. For this reason, ICS put forward a roadmap for how shipping can reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
