Bridging COP 26 and IMO: In a world of Shipping Decarbonisation

 

Maria Sahib (Consultant), Micronesian Center for Sustainable Transport (MCST), USP

The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, will be hosted by the United Kingdom in Glasgow. It is the most important COP meeting to be held since the 2015 meeting that gave rise to the Paris Agreement. Recent policy announcements from John Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, and Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, have shown there will be a significant focus on the shipping industry.

To bridge the gap, the collective efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will need to improve significantly in the next months and during COP26 to include a strong reinforcement of policy interventions to limit GHG emissions; some profound economic transformations in the fossil fuel consuming sectors (power generation, transport, manufacturing activities, buildings, etc.); a massive asset reallocation, with key implications for investors globally in relation to risk management, asset prices, and investment strategies.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has indicated limiting the shipping industry’s emissions, submitting plans to the international regulator – the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) – to place a US$2 levy on every tonne of ships’ fuel purchased. This is an industry based submission which is least ambitious in comparison to the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Solomon Islands carbon levy of $100 per tonne submission and the Norwegian cap and trade system submission.

The Global Maritime Forum (GMF) has advocated for a Call to Action for Shipping Decarbonisation with more than 150 signatories have reported that they are taking, or will take over the next decades, 269 climate actions and commitments related to shipping decarbonisation.

Why does COP26 matter to shipping? Progress at COP26 will directly inform the pace of change inside the IMO. Although the industry can make claims to be highly ambitious, putting it to action is another issue at the IMO. Will the IMO sustain the momentum of COP26? 

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