{"id":15757,"date":"2018-04-05T16:00:42","date_gmt":"2018-04-05T16:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=15757"},"modified":"2019-11-06T09:48:26","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T08:48:26","slug":"shipping-needs-to-shape-up-climate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/15757\/shipping-needs-to-shape-up-climate\/","title":{"rendered":"Why shipping needs to shape up for the climate"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s essential for transporting goods across the world, but the shipping industry has so far escaped strict regulations to clean up its climate-polluting emissions due to aggressive industry lobbying and a lack of public scrutiny. You can now <\/span>help change this<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

After years of inaction, the <\/span>International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN body responsible for global shipping regulations, will meet in London on April 9 – 13 <\/span>to finally agree on a plan to tackle the carbon emissions from ships<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

While there are many things we can do to lower our own emissions – from cycling to saying no to single-use plastic or eating less meat – some things are further out of our hands, such as shipping. But together we can give the IMO a massive wake-up call for the sake of the planet.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Freighter

Freighter stranded at the Wadden Sea in Germany<\/p><\/div>\n

Cutting emissions from shipping would play a key role in meeting the <\/span>Paris Climate Agreement’s<\/span><\/a> goals and here are five reasons why we need to put the spotlight on the IMO.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Shipping is a major contributor to climate change<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Ships carry <\/span>over 80%<\/span><\/a> of world trade, using vessels that operate on marine fuels which are cheaper but dirtier than road transport diesel fuels. <\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>If the shipping sector were a country, it would rank<\/span> sixth <\/span>in the list of carbon emitters, just above Germany. The sector\u2019s emissions have been growing <\/span>    three times faster<\/span><\/a> than global emissions and if left unchecked emissions <\/span>could grow<\/span><\/a> by 50-250% by 2050. <\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Aggressive lobbying and lack of public scrutiny has led to lack of action<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      The IMO is <\/span>heavily influenced by the shipping industry<\/span><\/a>, which has prevented the adoption of ambitious climate rules for the sector. The lack of public scrutiny on the IMO – unlike other UN organisations – has helped the industry avoid emissions regulations. <\/span><\/p>\n

      The IMO’s transparency has been reviewed by <\/span>anti-corruption organisation Transparency International, which found that <\/span>weak IMO governance is delaying action on climate change<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. The IMO\u2019s April meeting can be the first step towards greener seas<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        At its meeting in London, we must ensure the IMO agrees on a high ambition plan to reduce shipping\u2019s climate impact before a final deal is agreed in 2023. Greenpeace is <\/span>working with a coalition of NGOs<\/span><\/a> to increase the sector’s climate ambition. We urge the shipping industry to phase out emissions by 2050 at the latest and the faster the better.<\/span><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. No time to waste for low ambition<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          IMO membership is split between countries wanting to take climate action (such as the climate vulnerable Pacific island states and most of the<\/span> EU states<\/span><\/a>), those who want to lower ambition, like<\/span> Japan<\/span><\/a>, and those who are resisting any action<\/a>, such as Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia and Argentina.<\/span><\/p>\n

          But climate impacts respect no boundaries and we\u2019re already experiencing more extreme floods, droughts, hurricanes and heatwaves and the IMO needs to hear from you about the urgency of action!<\/span><\/p>\n

          \"Activists

          Activists in London demonstrated on Tuesday in support of an ambitious climate agreement, painting a washable sign along the banks of the Thames River that said \u2018IMO Don\u2019t Sink Paris\u2019.<\/p><\/div>\n

            \n
          1. The solutions are available. We need industry-wide adoption \u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            If ships are required to operate at lower speeds this could reduce emissions <\/span>by a third<\/span><\/a> and save fuel. Using carbon-free fuels and <\/span>propulsion technologies<\/span><\/a>, like wind-assisted propulsion, or <\/span>battery-powered engines<\/span><\/a> can also cut emissions and significantly reduce costs. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

            Greenpeace is already doing its small bit. Our flagship the <\/span>Rainbow Warrior<\/span><\/a> is propelled by a two-mast structure with 1,255 m2 of sailing rig, large enough for a work vessel that also has a helideck. We invested in the latest clean technology TIER 2 engines when it was built in 2010.<\/span><\/p>\n

            Imagine if, instead of using the <\/span>cheapest and dirtiest fuel (so-called Heavy Fuel Oil) that poses serious health risks and could cause catastrophic damage in the Arctic<\/a><\/span>, a worldwide ban was introduced on its use and transport through the Arctic, and the best in clean technology deployed across the entire shipping industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

            What can you do to help?<\/b><\/p>\n

            You can add your voice to those calling for a cleaner shipping industry <\/span>by sharing the Cleaner Ships for a Safer World Facebook page <\/span>here. <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

            Veronica Frank is a political advisor with Greenpeace International<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Cutting emissions from shipping would play a key role in meeting the Paris Climate Agreement\u2019s goals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":15790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[89],"p4-page-type":[59],"class_list":["post-15757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-climate","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15757"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16526,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15757\/revisions\/16526"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15757"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=15757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}