Polluting shipping to face climate reckoning at London meeting this week

LONDON - The

hefty carbon footprint of global shipping networks

that criss-cross oceans and keep the world’s economy afloat will come under scrutiny this week, as countries wrestle over measures to

slash planet-heating pollution levels.

Nations are under pressure to agree on ambitious emission reduction targets and consider a tax on pollution by the sector at a key meeting of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). Shipping belches out roughly the same level of greenhouse gases as aviation.

The IMO Marine Environment Protection Commission (MEPC) meeting, held in London from Monday to Friday, is likely to pit climate-vulnerable nations – particularly the Pacific Island nations – and some richer countries against big exporters like China.

“The climate crisis is an existential threat to Pacific small island developing states and many other countries, but can be seen as less urgent by countries with superior resources,” Mr Michael Prehn, the IMO delegate for the Solomon Islands, told AFP.

“This is why the Pacific has been consistently pressing for the highest possible ambition in climate regulation.”

Off course

Shipping, which is responsible for about 3 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, is judged to be off course in the fight against climate change.

Efforts to decarbonise so far centre around a 2018 IMO decision that instructed shipping firms to

reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 50 per cent by 2050,

from 2008 levels.

But that target is considered insufficient given the level of global emissions and compared with other industries. Aviation, for example, is aiming for net zero by the same mid-century deadline.

Nations in support of more ambitious cuts want the IMO to align its goals with the Paris Agreement’s global warming limit of 1.5 deg C above pre-industrial times.

Some 45 countries – including the United States, Britain, Fiji, the Marshall Islands and Norway – support a net-zero target for the sector by 2050, as does the European Union.

Most also support an intermediate target for 2030.

But emerging market exporters, particularly Brazil and China, have strongly resisted a change, according to observers at talks that started in late June ahead of the decision-making MEPC meeting.

A briefing note circulated by China, seen by AFP, framed the proposals as “unrealistic” and an effort by developed countries to boost their economic competitiveness by increasing shipping costs.

A ‘no-brainer’

Ships transport 90 per cent of the world’s goods, and the sector emits about a billion tonnes of greenhouse gases every year, roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of Germany or Japan.

Mr Nicolas Entrup, director of international relations at marine protection organisation OceanCare, said a goal of absolute zero greenhouse gas emissions from shipping by mid-century, with interim targets, would be “the necessary step forward for humankind”.

“It should be a no-brainer to bring the IMO targets in line with those of the Paris Agreement,” he said. “We simply can’t afford any other less ambitious path.”

One immediate way to reduce emissions would be to simply slow boats down so they burn less fuel, he added.

Among the proposals coming from different places is one from

the EU. The bloc wants net zero by 2050,

with emissions reduced 29 per cent by 2030 and 83 per cent by 2040.

Countries such as the US, Canada and the climate-vulnerable Marshall Islands and Solomon Islands want to go even further, with a 96 per cent cut by 2040.

Observers say that while some countries are on the fence, the United Arab Emirates – which will host the United Nations’ COP28 climate conference later this year – has swung in support of the goal of net zero by 2050. That has raised hopes of an agreement on the issue.

Global levy

But a potential deal on another flagship proposal – to introduce a global levy on shipping emissions – is going to be a harder sell.

French President Emmanuel Macron threw his support behind the idea at a recent climate finance summit in Paris, but said it would need backing from China, the US and other European nations to work.

A source following the preliminary IMO negotiations said support had swelled to 70 countries but major exporters, including Australia, Brazil and China, were against it. Brazil has argued it would harm food security and penalise developing countries.

There is also disagreement about where any revenues would be spent. There are debates over whether they should be used solely to decarbonise the sector, or whether some of the money should go to help countries cope with climate impacts.

The sums could be significant.

The Marshall Islands and the Solomon Islands, which have been campaigning for a tax for a decade, are proposing a tariff of US$100 (S$135) per tonne, with the money helping vulnerable countries.

According to the World Bank, this could generate more than US$60 billion a year. AFP