Cargo-shipping regulators have struck a historic deal to set their dirty fuel-burning industry on a low-carbon course.
Cargo-shipping regulators have struck a historic deal to set their dirty fuel-burning industry on a low-carbon course.
On Friday, the International Maritime Organization agreed for the first time to limit greenhouse gas emissions from global shipping. The nonbinding deal marks a critical shift for the sector—which, until last week, was the only major industry without a comprehensive climate plan.
Cargo ships are the linchpin of our modern global economy, transporting roughly 90 percent of everything we buy. They also contribute significantly to planet-warming gases in the atmosphere. If the shipping industry was a country, its total annual emissions would rank in the top 10, between those of Japan and Germany.
Left unchecked, shipping-related emissions are on track to soar by as much as 250 percent by 2050 as global trade expands, the maritime body projects. Such a spike at sea would offset progress in carbon reduction made on land.
Read more at Wired
Photo credit: Huskyherz via Pixabay
