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Shipping emissions must be included in Paris climate measurements

Reporting on national carbon output provides a roadmap to net zero, but countries cannot overlook their contributions at sea. 

With the UN Ocean Conference underway in Nice, France, a new call to action has been issued by Opportunity Green, Seas At Risk, and Transport & Environment. The organisations are calling on countries to begin including international shipping emissions within their Nationally Determined Contributions as required by the Paris Agreement. 

The recommendation comes following draft approval of the International Maritime Organization’s [IMO] Net Zero Framework at the 83rd session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee [MEPC83]. If adopted, this will introduce the first legally binding global measurement scale for shipping ever developed, with penalties for greenhouse has emissions. 

However, without complimentary action on a national policy level, it is unlikely that the regulations will help the IMO reach its agreed climate and equity commitments. International shopping emissions should be part of NDC reportage, governments need to incentivise zero emission technologies and infrastructure development to drive the change needed. In addition to promoting innovation in the industry, Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries need support to build capacity for new maritime ecological standards. 

‘As the world descends on Belem on the banks of the largest inland waterway on earth, it is crucial that states finally take responsibility for the shipping emissions that carry the international trade they so cherish,’ Faig Abbasov, Transport & Environment.

‘Contrary to industry claims, legal analysis has shown that shipping and aviation are in fact part of the Paris Agreement,’ they continued. ‘Countries must revise their NDCs to take into account all their shipping emissions into their ‘economy-wide’ national contributions as required by the Paris Agreement and price all the maritime carbon emissions, which the IMO preliminary deal will not.’

Image: Andy Li / Unsplash 

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