Eickhout: Dutch MEP is shadow rapporteur on the EU ETS file and co sponsor of European Parliament’s proposal to include shipping in the EU ETS pending progress at IMO on maritime GHG.
Eickhout: Dutch MEP is shadow rapporteur on the EU ETS file and co sponsor of European Parliament’s proposal to include shipping in the EU ETS pending progress at IMO on maritime GHG.
European policymakers are looking for concrete policy plans and clear verifiable targets followed by immediate action that reduces shipping’s greenhouse gas emissions
Global warming is a reality: that much we now know.
Russia is building military bases in a melting Arctic, in Florida the rich are fleeing sea level rise, global sea and temperatures in March were the second highest since 1880.
These are timely reminders ahead of talks at the International Maritime Organization in June on delivering an interim set of proposals to address the climate impact of shipping.
What European policymakers are looking for in London are concrete policy plans and clear verifiable targets followed by immediate action that reduces shipping’s greenhouse gas emissions in line with the requirements of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
That means shipping pulling its weight. That means shipping delivering clear and transparent plans that detail exactly how the sector will make the transition to zero net emissions by 2050.
As June’s round of talks at the IMO draws near, various perspectives are beginning to emerge in the form of official submissions to the UN.
After years of calling on the sector to heed calls for action, serious engagement and leadership by the International Chamber of Shipping and other business groups is critical.
However, when assessing the merits of their latest submission to the IMO we would all do well to look beyond the spin and focus on the quantifiable measures and targets being proposed.
Simply calling on the IMO to adopt low ambition aspirational objectives either on relative efficiency or absolute emissions reductions is certainly not good enough.
On relative efficiency, some shipping companies have already committed to 60% cuts in carbon intensity by 2020. ICS’s proposal for 50% carbon cuts per kilometre tonne by 2050 is not new and was put forward three years ago.
This proposal will not deliver the absolute emission cuts we need to meet the goals of Paris, because even with lower carbon intensity of individual ships, global emissions will keep on growing with growing global trade and transport work.
On absolute emissions, reductions must reflect the ambition enshrined in the Paris Agreement. For the shipping industry it would mean at least halving emissions by 2050 and reducing to zero soon after.
This goal would require emissions from international shipping to be capped so that reductions take place in-sector. Industry’s proposal of “no emissions cap” for the sector is simply not compatible with the Paris goals.
Just talking of the need for low carbon fuels and greater fuel efficiency is insufficient. The time for aspirational objectives through 2050 and beyond has passed.
Paris was clear, targeting temperature increases to “well below 2C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C”.
By this stage we would have expected a more granular set of proposals and measures, especially for the short and near-term. The ICS should identify measures that can remedy some of the recognised shortcomings of the existing design efficiency regulation and that can address immediately the existing fleet’s uncontrolled emissions.
The European Parliament is clear. Should the IMO fail to deliver on measures to reduce ship emissions, then the sector must be included in the EU emissions trading scheme from 2023.
The challenge facing ICS and other industry bodies is tough but surmountable. We need to see clear and viable policy proposals to start decarbonisation of the global fleet.
The ball is still in the shipping industry’s court, but science tells us the world cannot wait forever for them to deliver a climate solution for shipping. If they won’t, the EU will.
Bas Eickhout is a Dutch MEP, shadow rapporteur on the EU ETS file and co sponsor of European Parliament’s proposal to include shipping in the EU ETS pending progress at IMO on maritime GHG. He tweets @baseickhout.
