Press Release

UN greenwashes shipping with hopelessly weak carbon efficiency target

June 18, 2021

The global shipping fleet will be required to reduce its carbon intensity by just 1.5% a year under a climate plan adopted by the UN regulator, the IMO, yesterday. The target is as weak as what would be achieved under business as usual [1] and falls far short of the 7% annual reduction required to meet the goals of the Paris agreement. Transport & Environment (T&E) said the EU must resist all attempts by the IMO to stop it taking effective regional measures to reduce the climate impact of shipping in Europe.

Faig Abbasov, shipping programme director at T&E, said: “The maritime regulator is greenwashing shipping with a hopelessly weak ship efficiency target. The proposal shows total disregard for climate science and is nothing more than a cosmetic measure. Meanwhile, the IMO is meddling in the democratic affairs of the EU by trying to curb its plans to cut ship pollution. This is unacceptable.”

At the meeting the IMO secretariat again expressed disapproval of potential national and regional regulatory measures to address shipping’s growing climate impact where it has failed. The EU is preparing to include shipping in its emissions trading system when it revises the bloc’s carbon market on 14 July. The EU will also propose to require ships to progressively switch to alternative sustainable fuels.

Shipping accounts for about 13% of greenhouse gas emissions from European transport.

Note to editors:

[1] The ICCT, Choose wisely: IMO’s carbon intensity target could be the difference between rising or falling shipping emissions this decade, 2021.

https://theicct.org/blog/staff/imo-carbon-intensity-target-may2021