Four major international trade associations have made a joint proposal to the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) concerning ambitious CO2 reductions by the international shipping sector.
In a detailed submission, BIMCO, INTERCARGO, International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and INTERTANKO proposed that IMO Member States should immediately adopt two “aspirational objectives” on behalf of the international shipping sector.
These include maintaining international shipping’s annual total CO2 emissions below 2008 levels, and reducing CO2 emissions per tonne of cargo transported one kilometre, as an average across international shipping, by at least 50% by 2050, compared to 2008.
In addition, the industry associations have suggested that IMO “should give consideration to another possible objective of reducing international shipping’s total annual CO2 emissions,” by an agreed percentage by 2050 compared to 2008, as a point on a continuing trajectory of further CO2 emissions reduction.
The shipping sector, which is responsible for transporting about 90% of global trade, accounts for 2.2% of the world’s annual man-made CO2 emissions.
The IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee will meet in London this July to begin the development of a strategy for the reduction of the sector’s CO2 emissions aligning the international shipping sector response to the 2015 Paris Agreement’s call for ambitious contributions to combat climate change.