Marshall Islands and Solomon Islands have submitted a paper to the forthcoming meeting of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) calling on shipping to show high ambition in tackling climate change causing emissions from shipping, in line with, Pacific Leaders calls for no more than 1.5 degrees warming.

The paper is one of five submissions to the IMO co-sponsored by a number of Pacific countries, (RMI, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Kiribati and Tuvalu) with European and other countries under the banner of the High Ambition Coalition for Shipping.

The IMO has agreed to a Roadmap to set shipping’s role in combatting climate change and reducing Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the sector. The first meetings begin in June and July this year in London.

These Pacific island countries have supported a Pacific Island Development Forum (PIDF) position paper prepared by Marshall Islands and Solomon Islands, as part of a High Ambition Coalition for Shipping.. The countries were represented by their Ministers of Transport and/or Energy at the Third Pacific Regional Energy and Transport Ministerial Meeting held in Nuku’alofa Tonga from the 26th to the 28th of April.

The Ministers communiqué noted Pacific and European cooperation and leadership in the High Ambition Coalition for shipping to ensure that IMO provides its contribution towards the Paris Agreement goals.

This issue has long been a priority for the PIDF. With Marshall Islands and Fiji, the PIDF hosted a side event in Tonga, with invited speakers including Dr Tristan Smith from the University College of London, Mr Cornie Huizenga, Secretary General of the Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT), Dr Benoit Adam, Policy Advisor for the Federal Public Service for Mobility and Transport for the Kingdom of Belgium and Nicolas Udrea, the negotiator for France on GHG at the IMO.

The Pacific position paper noted that numerous declarations by Pacific leaders have called for the need to curb global warming within a 1.5 degree Celsius guardrail if the existential threat posed by climate change on their countries is to be combated.

The PIDF Secretary General said “The Pacific has long been advocating strongly for tougher measures in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The PIDF has insisted that these reductions come from all sources, including transport whether land transport, shipping or aviation.”

– Pacific Island Development Forum Secretariat