Earth Equity News

Nations Divided about Controlling Emissions from Shipping. By Roger Harrabin, BBC, 10/7/10. “Environmentalists at the UN climate talks in Tianjin have criticized big developing nations for blocking plans for efficiency standards on shipping. Shipping produces about 3% of global emissions -- more than the UK or Germany. And the International Maritime Organization is trying to stop ‘dirty’ ships being built. It is believed the scheme would benefit ship owners everywhere by reducing fuel consumption in the long term. But China's delegate at the meeting in Tianjin said he could not support the plan because it imposed uniform standards on rich and poor alike - contrary to the spirit of UN climate negotiations… Shipping was excluded from the original Kyoto climate treaty in 1997 because, like aviation, it presented too knotty a problem for anyone trying to ascribe ‘ownership’ of the emissions. Like aviation, it was left to regulate itself. And, observers say, like aviation it has done little until recently. The shipping industry has previously been defensive about its emissions. It points out that for shifting cargo, boats are 80-100 times more efficient than planes. Environmentalists say this has made the industry complacent about the potential for improvements which could benefit ships' owners in long-term fuel savings, so long as standards were uniformly imposed to prevent cut-throat short-term competition.”