Maritime shipping accounts for 2% to 3% of global CO2 emissions, and can be a big contributor to air pollution in port cities given its output of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and black carbon. (Shutterstock.com)
Freighters may seem specks in the vast ocean, but if the global shipping fleet were a country, it would be the world’s sixth-largest emitter of the greenhouse gases contributing to climate change. Maritime shipping accounts for 2% to 3% of global CO2 emissions, as well as air pollution in ports. Without a cleanup, experts say, emissions from maritime shipping will rise by at least 50% by 2050. Enter the U.N.’s International Maritime Organization (IMO), which regulates international shipping. Its Marine Environment Protection Committee approved a strategy in April that calls for phasing out such emissions completely, in line with the temperature goals set at the 2015 Paris climate summit. The agreement—reached by delegates from more than 100 countries, along with industry representatives... [Log in to read more]
