Mark is one of the MPs responsible for a hard-hitting new independent report which looks at the role which international shipping plays in climate change. Air travel has attracted more attention but 90% of the world’s goods are carried by sea and international shipping actually contributes more than planes to climate change (3% of global emissions as opposed to 2 % from planes).

The report is published by the House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee of which Mark is a member. The Committee scrutinises Government policy on the environment and this latest inquiry looked at:

• the UK government’s role in international negotiations to tackle shipping emissions
• what measures it is using to take account of its share of these emission within its domestic carbon budgets
• how well it is supporting R & D into new technology to reduce emissions from shipping

Mark said:

“So much of the focus has been on the airline industry that shipping has escaped relatively unnoticed.

The UK has played a pioneering role in setting domestic emissions reductions targets and this report stresses the need for the Government to play a leading role now in bringing about international agreement on shipping emissions.

The Committee also highlights the opportunities for businesses in developing new technology to cut emissions from ships. This chimes with the calls I have been making for a boost for green industries as a way of both tackling climate change and creating new jobs.”

The Committee praises the role played by the Government within the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in tightening regulations on emissions of matter such as nitrates and sulphates. However, it stresses the need for the Government to show similar leadership when it comes to CO2 emissions.

It calls on the Government to press within the IMO for international agreement on how responsibility for emissions should be calculated and an international cap and trade scheme which would involve buying permits if emissions were above a certain level.

However, the report emphasizes that the Government should not wait for agreement at EU or international level before taking action. It should build on the achievement of the Climate Change Act 2008 which set binding legal targets for emissions reduction by ensuring that emissions from shipping are included in the targets.