Arranging Deckchairs on the Titanic:Climate Change, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and International Shipping

• Author: Jodie Kathleen Moffat
• Position: This paper was the joint winner of the 2010 Morella Calder Best Essay prize
• Pages: 104-125

ARRANGING DECKCHAIRS ON THE TITANIC: CLIMATE CHANGE,

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING

Jod ie Mo ffat*

Abstra ct

In 1988 the World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Environment Programme established

the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to assess ‘the scientific, technical and socioeconomic

information relevant for the understanding of the risk of human-induced climate change’. Subsequently, in 1992,

the United Nations (UN) proposed a framework for dealing with climate change, the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). UNFCCC divides UN member states into developed (Annex I) and

developing (non-Annex I) nations. In 1997, the Kyoto Protocol (KP) was agreed as a practical attempt to put the

aspirations of UNFCCC into effect. GHG emissions reduction targets were only set for Annex I nations under

the UNFCCC concept of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’; this precludes allocation of national

ownership of GHG emissions from activities of an international character, specifically international shipping

and aviation. Article 2(2) of KP assigns responsibility for these to Annex I nations through the International

Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization (IMO). In this paper, I have

endeavoured to reconcile the implications of GHG emissions, climate change and international shipping with

IMO’s mandate under KP.

1 Introduction

The notion of global warming caused by human activity was first promulgated in 1938 by engineer and inventor

GS Callendar.1 The human activit y which most contrib utes to global warmi ng is the burning of fossil fuels, be it

in the production of electricity and commodities or to generate the drive power in various modes of transport.2

Burning fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases (GHGs) which trap solar energy in the Earth’s atmosphere,

cumulatively contributing to global warming and, ultimat ely, climate change.3

In 1992, the United Nations (UN) prop osed a framework for dealing with climate change, the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which entered into force in 1994.4 UNFCCC segregates

UN member states into developed (Annex I) and developing ( non-Annex I) natio ns. 5 In 1997, the Kyoto

Protocol (KP) was agreed as a practical attempt to put the aspirations of UNFCCC into effect. 6 KP prescribed a

means of dealing with specified GHGs7 and set a target of GHG emission reduction which, optimistically, will

avert catastrophic climate change. Reduction targets were only set for Annex I nati ons under the UNFCCC

concept of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ ( CBDR);8 through industrialisation, the developed

nations were deemed disproportionately responsible for accelerating climate change. 9

KP was drafted to

facilitate industrial growth for all nations in a less emissions inte nsive, more sustainable way.

CBDR precludes allocation of national ownership of GHG emissions from activities of an international c haracter,

specifically international shipping and aviation. Article 2(2) of KP (KP2(2)) assigns responsibility for these to

Annex I nations thro ugh the international institutions which ad minister each: the International Civil Aviation

Organization (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO).10

* This paper was the join t winner of the 2010 Morella Calder Best Essay prize.

In terms of impact, international

1 H Le Treut, R Somerville, U Cubasch, Y Ding, C Mauritzen, A Mokssit, T Peterson and M Prather, ‘2007: Historical Overview of Climate

Change’ in S Soloman, D Qin, M Manning, Z Chen, M Marquis, K B Averyt, M Tignor and H L Miller (eds), Climate Change 2007: The

Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernment al Panel on Climate

Change (Cambridge University Press, 2007 ) 105; see also G S Callendar, ‘On the Amount of Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere’ (1958)

10(2) Tellus 243, 243-248.

2 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (‘IPCC’), Climate Change 2007: Synt hesis Report, 37 < http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-

report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr.pdf >.

3 Ibid 37-41.

4 The Tenth Session of the FCCC Subsidiary Bodies, 12(99) Earth Negotiations Bulletin (1999) 1.

<http://www.iisd.ca/vol12/enb1299e.html>.

5 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (‘UNFCCC’), opened for signature 9 May 1992, 1771 UNTS 107 (entered into

force 21 March 1994) annex I, 23.

6 See UNFCCC website, Kyoto Protocol link < http:// unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2 830.php>.

7 Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (‘KP’), opened for signature 11 December 1997, 2303

UNTS 148 (entered into force 16 February 2005) annex A, 19.

8 UNFCCC Preamble.

9 Ibid; see also KP Preamble.

10 KP art 2(2).

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shipping contributed around 3 per cent of global GHG emissions in 2007,11 twice the amount Annex I nation

Australia emitted in 2000.12 Yet Australia 's relatively small population plus inefficiencies in land transportation

and energy production mean Australians rank high amongst the worst per capita emitters of GHG s in the

world;13 on the o ther hand, shipping is touted as the lowest emitting mode of transport per tonne of cargo

shifted.14

As such, it seems sensible that transportation by sea be promoted as the mode of choice in a future

constrained by climate change, whilst at the time doing whatever can be done to reduce its contribution to the

problem.

In this paper, I will endeavour to reconcile the implications of GHG emissions, climate change and inte rnational

shipping with IMO’s mand ate under KP.15

I will start by looking at some of the i mplications of climate change

in Part 2. In Part 3, I will review current regulation regime s in international shipping and how these might be

applied to GHG emission controls. I will then address additional IMO proposals for GHG emissions control in

Part 4. Part 5 contains my conclusio ns.

2 Climate Change

In 1988 the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme

(UNEP) established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to assess ‘the scientific, technical

and socioeconomic i nformation releva nt for the understa nding of the risk o f human-induced climate change’.16

The IPCC’s First Assessme nt Report, released in 1990, formed the basis for negotiating UNFCCC. The report

determined:

There is a natural greenhouse effect which already keeps the Ear th warmer than it would otherwise be.. . Emissions

resulting from human activities ... will enhance the greenhouse effect, resulting on average in an additional

warming of the Earth's surface. 17

IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report, released in 2007, stated that the ‘[c]limate has changed on all time scales

throughout Earth’s history… past climate changes were natural in origin… whereas most of the warming of the

past 50 years is attributable to human activities’. 18

The report and subsequent research co mprehensively analysed the probabilities of future impacts of climate

change and, amongst other inferences, found:

• It is likely sea levels will rise19 with the seas becoming more acidic, threatening marine ecosystems at

their foundations. 20

• 60 per cent of humankind lives in coastal areas and is thus vulnerable to climate change.

21

• Low-lying coastal and delta regions are likely to be inundated – including low-lyi ng cities such as N ew

York, Amsterdam, Kalkota and others.

22

11 Ø Buhaug, JJ Corbett, Ø Endresen , V Eyring, J Faber, S Hanayama, DS Lee, D Lee, H Lindstad, AZ Markowska, A Mjelde, D Nelissen , J

Nilsen, C Pålsson, JJ Winebrake, W Wu, K Yoshida, Second IMO GHG Study 2009 (International Maritime Organization, 2009) Executive

Summary, 1, 110.

12 Kevin A Baumert, Timoth y Herzog and Jonathon Pershing, Navigating the Numbers, Greenhouse Gas Data and International Climate

Change, (2005), 12 <http://pdf.wri.org/navigating_numbers.pdf >.

13 Ross Garnaut, The Garnaut Climate Change Review: Final Report (Cambridge University Press, 2008) ch 7.1 (Australia’s emissions in a

global context); see generally Hal Turton, ‘Greenhouse Gas Emissions in industrialised countries Where does Australia Stand?’ (Discussion

Paper Number 66, The Australia Institute, June 2004).

14 Buhaug et al, above n 11, 8-9, ch 9.

15 Patricia Birnie, Alan Boyle, and Cath erine Redgwell, International Law and the Environment (Oxford University Press, 3rd ed, 2009) 356-

360.

16 IPCC, Hist ory < http://www.ipccfacts.org/history.html >.

17 IPCC, First Assessment Report (1990) 52 [1] (overview) <http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/far/ IPCC_1990_

and_1992_Assessments/English/ipc c-90-92-assessments-overview.pdf >.

18 E Jansen, J Overpeck, K R B riffa, J-C Duplessy, F Joos, V Masson-Delmotte, D Olago, B Otto-Bliesner, W R Peltier, S Rahmstor f, R

Ramesh, D Raynaud, D Rind, O Solomina, R Villalba and D Zhang, ‘2007: Palaeoclimate’ in S Soloman, D Qin, M Manning, Z Chen, M

Marquis, K B Averyt, M Tignor and H L Miller (eds), Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I

to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Cambridge Universi ty Press, 2007) 465.

19 Ibid 317-318.

20 Michael Roddy (ed), ‘Cli mate change turning the seas acid: sc ientists’, Reuters (online), 31 May 2009

<http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE54U1ZB20090601>.

21 UNFCCC, Climate Change Small Island Developing States (2005) 4 <http://unfccc.int/resourc e/docs/publications/cc_sid s.pdf >.

22 TJ Wilbanks, P Romero Lankao, M Bao, F Berkhout, S Cairncross, J-P Ceron, M Kapshe, R Muir-Wood and R Zapata-Marti, ‘2007:

Industry, settlement and society’ in M L Parry, O F Canziani, J P Palutikof, P J van der Linden and C E Hanson (eds), Climate Change 2007:

Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel

on Climate Change (Cambridge University Press, 2007) 377 [357]-[390]; see also UNCTAD, Maritime transport and the climate change

challenge, UNCTAD/DTL/TLB/2009/1 (1 December 2009) 5-6.

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