Decarbonisation And Shipping ' The Coming Change

• Published date: 10 October 2020
• Subject Matter: Environment, Transport, Environmental Law, Marine/ Shipping, Climate Change
• Law Firm: Hill Dickinson
• Author: Ms Beth Bradley and Rachel Hoyland

Human activities are changing the earth's atmosphere. As a result of the emission of greenhouse gases from industrial activities the planet is warming and the delicate balance of life on earth as we know it is being increasingly threatened. Consequently, addressing climate change and reducing the emission of greenhouse gases is becoming an increasingly urgent global priority.

International treaties

International political efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions first coalesced in the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an international treaty that entered into force on 21 March 1994 and to which almost all states globally are party. The objective of the UNFCCC was to stabilise the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at concentrations that would not amount to dangerous human interference with the climate. Under the UNFCCC, industrialised countries agreed to make the biggest cuts to their greenhouse gas emissions and to support climate change activities in developing countries.

Following from the UNFCCC a further international treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, was adopted in 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. The Kyoto Protocol applies to six greenhouse gases and imposed on developed countries binding individualised targets for reducing the emission of those gases. The overall targets being to achieve an average reduction in emissions of 5% compared to 1990 levels between 2008 and 2013, and an average reduction of 18% compared to 1990 levels between 2013 and 2020. The Protocol permitted reduction by several mechanisms, including by emissions trading, and also established an emissions monitoring system.

In 2015, the parties to the UNFCCC adopted the Paris Agreement on Climate Change which entered into force on 04 November 2016 and requires the party states to put forward their best efforts to keep global temperature increases by the year 2100 from exceeding 2'C above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts to keep the increase below 1.5'C. The Paris Agreement also aims to increase adaptability to the adverse effects of climate change, to align finance flows with the pathway towards reduced greenhouse gas emissions and climate resilient development, and requires regular reporting on implementation efforts and emissions levels. It also makes provision for a global stock take of the position every five years. Although almost every nation of the globe is party to the Paris Agreement, the United States is...