UN Climate Change Conference - shipowners regret lack of direction on treatment of international shipping
21 December 2009
The Chamber of Shipping is disappointed that the text of the 'Copenhagen Accord' is silent on the treatment of international shipping in the delivery of further CO2 emission reductions. The UK shipping industry, which has led the way in terms of practical solutions with its advocacy of a cap-and-trade system as the only way to guarantee reductions, remains firmly committed to reducing shipping’s carbon footprint.
"Although shipping is the most carbon-efficient mode of transport, with about 500 times less carbon impact than air freight per tonne mile, it is such a large industry – carrying about 80 per cent of world trade – that its emissions are close to 3 per cent of the global total," said Mark Brownrigg, director-general of the Chamber of Shipping. "We had hoped that the UNFCCC would at least empower the International Maritime Organization to set some clear targets and agree a process by which the Kyoto Protocol principle of 'Common But Differentiated Responsibility' could be reconciled with the important need for global rules on CO2 reductions for the carriage of world trade."
Shipping is a uniquely international industry that can only work efficiently when operating within a framework of uniform global regulation that applies equally to all ships regardless of flag. 'Common But Differentiated Responsibility’, at least at ship or company level, will simply not work. Shipping companies would simply migrate their fleets to developing countries. Around 65% of the world fleet is already registered with ‘Non-Annex I’ nations under the existing Kyoto Protocol.
The shipping industry is still firmly committed to helping IMO develop a global solution for shipping on CO2 at the next meeting of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee in March 2010. But it is vital for all governments to understand that, in the absence of a global package agreed by IMO, there is a serious risk that some countries will develop unilateral measures to regulate at national or regional level the CO2 emissions of ships trading internationally. Such unilateral measures would result in serious market distortions and – most importantly – be far less effective in ensuring the reduction of CO2 emissions by the global shipping sector as a whole.