Several NGOs regret an insufficient compromise to put the sector on the path to reducing carbon emissions under the 2015 Paris Agreement.
An “important” advance for some, a text “too weak” for others. An international agreement to decarbonize the highly polluting sea freight sector was announced on Friday 7 July by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), but it is less ambitious than hoped and has been heavily criticized by NGOs.
According to the IMO, which depends on the United Nations, the agreement provides “an enhanced common goal to achieve carbon neutrality for international sea freight transport by 2050”. In the short term, CO2 emissions are to be reduced “by an average of at least 40% by 2030 compared to 2008”. The compromise provides non-binding targets for reducing pollutant emissions by at least 70% by 2040 compared to 2008 levels.
“A success,” says France
The French Minister of State for the Sea, Hervé Berville, welcomed a “big step (…) towards climate neutrality” before the adoption of coercive measures. “We certainly came to the negotiating table with greater ambitions than we did in the final agreement,” he admitted, “but it’s undeniably a success.”
In fact, at negotiations this week at the IMO headquarters in London, the European Union called for a target of net-zero emissions in 2050 with two intermediate stages: a 29% reduction in 2030 and an 83% reduction in 2040. Those most at risk are those Pacific countries from global warming wanted to go further with support from US, UK and Canada: -96% by 2040.
The CO2 tax divides
Conversely, many big exporters such as China, Brazil and Argentina held back, saying that overly strict targets would benefit rich countries at the expense of developing countries. In particular, they opposed the carbon tax project backed by Emmanuel Macron and companies like shipping giant Maersk. The idea appears in the draft agreement only in a series of proposed measures to reduce freight emissions.
For their part, environmental NGOs are very critical and have called for a target of -50% by 2030 and CO2 neutrality by 2040. The agreement “unfortunately does not live up to expectations”, regrets the Climate Action Network International and insists there is an “obvious discrepancy” with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Therefore, the text is also considered “far below what is necessary” by the Clean Shipping Coalition, for which “the wording of the text is vague and non-binding”.