50% Co2 cut by 2050 – governments must acknowledge enormity of what IMO has agreed

Speaking today (26 April) at Singapore Maritime Week, the Chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), Esben Poulsson, said the adoption by the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) of a comprehensive strategy to phase-out shipping’s greenhouse gases “should be more than sufficient to discourage those who mistakenly advocate regional measures which would greatly damage global trade and would not be effective in helping shipping to further reduce its total CO₂ emissions.”

The ICS Chairman was commenting on the ambitious IMO strategy to cut the total greenhouse gas emissions of shipping by at least 50% by 2050, compared to 2008 – with an agreed efficiency goal, as an average for the sector, for a 40% improvement by 2030 compared to 2008, and a 70% improvement by 2050 – so that the entire sector will be in a position to decarbonise completely, consistent with achieving the 1.5 degree climate change goal identified by the UN.