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The international maritime transport industry has to take urgent measures in order to cut its share of emissions, a declaration signed in Paris within the framework of the “One Planet” climate summit reads.

The declaration, signed by 35 countries including the UK, France, Denmark, Germany, Canada, the Marshall Islands, Chile and New Zealand, was signed two years after the historic Paris climate change agreement, which exempted shipping and aviation from targeted CO2 emissions cuts.

The United States was not among the signatories, having in mind that the U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the agreement back in June.

The declaration, named after Tony de Brum, welcomed the efforts launched by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), aimed at adopting the first strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ships by 2018 and a revised strategy by 2023.

However, the signatories urged for an ambitious CO2 reduction target to be set, compatible with that determined by the Paris Agreement, including a short-term cap on emissions, the ultimate objective being zero-emissions in the second half of the century.

The signing ceremony was held on December 12 under the auspices of the French President Emmanuel Macron, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.

The three leaders addressed the ecological emergency for our planet calling on the international leaders to take concrete actions in fighting against climate change.

“The aim is to find new means of financing the adaptation of our ways of life to inevitable transformations, of further speeding up the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and of ensuring climate issues are central to the finance sector,” a statement from the French President reads.

During the summit, the World Bank Group announced it will no longer finance upstream oil and gas, after 2019.

World Maritime News Staff