CO2 reduction goals

This comes in advance of the Climate Change Conference which takes place on 30 November until 11 December 2015 in Paris.

The UNFCCC says that governments’ commitments overall should reduce CO₂ emissions per capita by 5% in 2030.

International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) argues that the mandatory CO₂ reduction measures already adopted by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) will proportionately delivery far more ambitious CO₂ reductions than the pledges made so far by the government.

IMO rules for the future require all ships built after 2025 to be at least 30% more fuel efficient.

Despite continuing growth in the maritime trade, shipping has already reduced its total CO₂ emissions by more than 10% from 2007 to 2012. As well as the CO₂ per tonne of cargo transported one km has been reduced by around 20% in the past 10 years.

With shipping having ambitious CO₂ emission reduction goals, the ICS has warned that higher levels of CO₂ reduction than those to which the industry is committed would be incompatible with UN sustainable development goals.

Recent data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development showed that maritime trade now benefits developed and developing nations equally. This suggests that the global shipping industry should be treated like a developed country for the purpose of setting future CO₂ targets.