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The UK-based Chamber of Shipping has voiced its disappointment at the text of the so-called 'Copenhagen Accord' - released on Friday night from the ashes of the climate summit - in that it said it is 'silent' on the treatment of international shipping.
The UN Climate Conference (COP15) - which ran for two-weeks in the Danish capital and was attended by 193 nations - failed to reach any conclusions other than the last-minute President Barack Obama-brokered non-legally binding accord.
The Chamber said, the UK shipping industry, which led the way with its advocacy of a cap-and-trade solution to reducing emissions, had expected that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) would be empowered to set clear targets on emission reductions.
The director-general of the Chamber, Mark Brownrigg, said: 'Although shipping is the most carbon-efficient mode of transport, with about 500 times less carbon impact than air freight per tonne mile, it is such a large industry - carrying about 80 per cent of world trade...we had hoped that the UNFCCC would at least empower the International Maritime Organization to set some clear targets and agree a process by which the Kyoto Protocol principle of 'Common But Differentiated Responsibility' could be reconciled with the important need for global rules on CO2 reductions for the carriage of world trade.'
The Chamber added: 'The shipping industry is still firmly committed to helping IMO develop a global solution on CO2 for shipping at the next meeting of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee in March 2010. But it is vital for all governments to understand that, in the absence of a global package agreed by IMO, there is a serious risk that some countries will develop unilateral measures to regulate at national or regional level the CO2 emissions of ships trading internationally.'
The Chamber went on to warn of the dangers of unilateral measures in cutting emissions resulting in 'serious market distortions' and so-called 'carbon leakage' by Non-Annex 1 nations.
by Mike Wackett |
