UN climate deal for shipping will fail without ambitious 2030 goal

The International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) agreement on shipping climate targets expected next month could be the starting gun for the radical climate action our planet desperately needs.

Civil society groups are calling on the IMO member states to urgently support halving climate pollution from ships by 2030 and reaching zero-emission by 2040, at the Intersessional Working Group on Greenhouse Gases (ISWG-GHG-15) next week.

Given the disproportionate impacts of climate change felt in vulnerable and developing states today, IMO must guarantee that this transition is just and equitable.

While most governments have previously agreed to revise the IMO’s existing climate target to absolute zero-emissions by 2050, bringing the industry closer than ever before to the Paris Agreement, a mid-century ambition is not enough to decarbonise shipping within Paris’ 1.5°C temperature limit.

The world’s leading climate scientists have repeatedly warned that steep and immediate reduction in emissions across industries is the only way to avert the global temperature rise beyond 1.5°C, and it is the only way humanity can secure a livable future.

Ambitious targets for 2030 and 2040 are vital for determining future IMO climate policy measures that will be key to deliver shipping’s transition to zero emissions, such as action on short-term pollutants (methane and black carbon), mandatory slow steaming, a carbon levy of at least $100/tonne of greenhouse gas and a fuel greenhouse gas standard.

Jim Gamble, Pacific Environment, said: “In the Arctic, the signs of climate change are everywhere. Sea ice and permafrost are melting, and communities are falling into the sea – threatening the health and safety of both people and wildlife. It’s past time for the shipping industry to clean up and decarbonize to align with the 1.5°C transition and move to zero-emission shipping no later than 2040. The shipping industry could move now on measures like improving the energy and operational efficiency of vessels, slow-steaming, electrification, and wind-assisted propulsion.”

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