UN shipping agency IMO condemned for delaying emissions reduction plans

International Maritime Organization (IMO) and its members have decided not to revise its emission reduction strategy until the spring of 2023. However, this decision is criticized as hazardous by environmental campaigners.

At the MEPC (Marine Environment Protection Committee) meeting, arranged by the IMO, the UN body’s secretary-general, Kitack Lim, said that the world is watching them. Meanwhile, Hideaki Saito, the meeting chair, spoke about the perseverance of all sectors fastening their efforts to lessen greenhouse gas emissions in light of the Glasgow climate pact earlier this month.

Saito also said to the committee that they had predicted the requirement to reinforce the ambition of the current strategy of IMO to lessen the international greenhouse gas emission from shipping to half by 2050.

The strategy was criticized by the UN secretary-general António Guterres in October as it falls far short of standing in line with the Paris agreement.

However, ecologists say that the decision to adopt it till 2023 is “minuscule progress” in the face of a climate crisis already upon them.

According to the chair, the committee could invite international organizations and interested member states to submit concrete proposals for a reviewed strategy to MEPC78 next year for consideration but to MEPC80 (in 2023) for adoption.

John Maggs, the president of the Clean Shipping Coalition, stated at the meeting that for sticking to the Paris target of 1.5C, significant reduction in emissions are required right now. Delaying it means lagging two years away from the ambition.

Many UN member states have already committed to strictly tight emission reduction in the shipping sector.

An alliance of countries including the UK, Germany, Panama, France, the US, and the Marshall Islands contracted a declaration at Cop26 to reinforce universal efforts for reaching the net-zero on shipping emissions by 2050.

Source Credit - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/24/un-shipping-summit-criticised-dangerous-delay-emissions-plan

 

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