Copenhagen close to failure on aviation and shipping emissions
WWF,
Seas At Risk,
The Ecological Council (Denmark),
France Nature Environnement,
Sierra Club (USA),
The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation
Call for EU to fight back on deal that could be key to billions in climate finance
for poorest countries
With less than two days to go, the Copenhagen climate negotiations have yet to
identify a feasible way forward to reduce emissions from international aviation
and shipping.
since 1990, international aviation emissions have grown by over 50% during the
same period. Left unchecked, emissions from the two sectors will double or triple
by 2050. A failure to reach an agreement here on these so-called ‘bunker’ emissions
will jeopardise the chances of keeping global warming well below 2 degrees in
2050.
"Negotiators have so-far failed to see beyond their own narrow or group interests,"
said Bill Hemmings of Transport & Environment. "They are currently hemmed in by stale political positions. Attention is focusing
on an extremely weak text being circulated by Norway. This is unfortunate and
regrettable."
Excluded from commitments in the Kyoto protocol, responsibility for cutting emissions
from the two sectors was handed to the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organisation
(ICAO) and International Maritime Organisation (IMO). But neither has come forward
with a single binding measure in the twelve years since Kyoto.
"The European Union came to Copenhagen apparently determined to deliver on bunkers,"
said Peter Lockley, Head of Transport at WWF-UK, "There were signs that steps forward could be made, in the form of global reduction
targets and an accelerated process in the IMO and ICAO to agree on reduction measures.
The current so-called text represents an alliance of convenience, but the EU can
and must fight back with the Least Developed Countries and others who still believe
a stronger deal is not only necessary but possible.”
from a number of countries in the run-up to Copenhagen – a separate global Emissions
Trading System for aviation and shipping and a climate levy on marine fuel. Both
options are feasible and would generate substantial revenues, estimated at $25-37
billion per year, which could go towards the global climate fund for developing
countries that has been a major part of the Copenhagen discussions.
Developing countries, which would benefit enormously from the revenues generated
by a levy or emissions trading scheme, seem unprepared to endorse measures, mainly
due to concern that they will never gain access to the money it would generate.
"Norway’s proposal sends responsibility for action on bunkers back to ICAO and
IMO without any sense of urgency or commitment to absolute reduction targets other
than a vague reference to keeping warming below 2 degrees," said John Maggs of Seas At Risk. "There is also no reference to the pivotal role that bunker revenues can
play in climate finance. Norway’s proposal risks continued inaction and political
paralysis. The whole idea of raising the aviation and shipping issue in Copenhagen
was to use the occasion of wider negotiations to break the political deadlock
and agree a fast track to introduce reduction measures. That chance is now slipping
away as is the likelihood of releasing billions of dollars of urgently needed
additional climate finance."
For further information:
Bill Hemmings, Transport & Environment
+45 5148 7342,
Peter Lockley, WWF-UK
+44 7770 238 068,
John Maggs, Seas at Risk
+44 7966 322 379,
Søren Dyck-Madsen, The Ecological Council, Denmark
+45 30 89 60 80,
Michel Dubromel, France Nature Environnement
+33 6 82 52 11 81,
Art Williams, Sierra Club, USA
+1 502 689 4403,
Magnus Nilsson, Swedish Society for Nature Conservation
+46 708 996688,