NGO letter ahead of ISWG-GHG

A coalition of NGOs argues that a proposed compromise at the Intersessional Working Group on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships (ISWG-GHG) would undermine the IMO Initial Strategy and the Paris Agreement by delaying the enforcement of carbon intensity measures for ships until 2029/2030, potentially allowing shipping emissions to rise for another decade.

• The IMO Initial Strategy established three core principles: aligning shipping with Paris Agreement temperature goals, prioritizing short-term GHG emission reductions before 2023, and peaking international shipping GHG emissions as soon as possible.
• A compromise proposal (ISWG-GHG 7/2/26) combines Operational Efficiency (Carbon Intensity Indicators) and Technical regulation (Energy Efficiency Existing Ships Index), but proposes delaying enforcement of Carbon Intensity until 2029 or 2030.
• Under the proposed compromise, ships rated 'E' would not be issued a Statement of Compliance until 2029, and ships rated 'D' would have until 2030 before risking the loss of their Statement of Compliance.
• The authors contend that making operational efficiency voluntary until 2029/2030 would allow shipping's 1 billion tonnes of annual GHG emissions to continue rising for at least 10 years, violating the IMO Initial Strategy and the IPCC's requirement for absolute global emission cuts of approximately 45% by 2030 to stabilize heating at 1.5C.

APA

Carbon Market Watch (2020). NGO letter ahead of ISWG-GHG. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/ngo-letter-ahead-of-iswg-ghg/

Chicago

Carbon Market Watch. NGO letter ahead of ISWG-GHG. 2020. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/ngo-letter-ahead-of-iswg-ghg/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Carbon Market Watch |title=NGO letter ahead of ISWG-GHG |date=15 October 2020 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/ngo-letter-ahead-of-iswg-ghg/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{carbonmarketwatch2020ngo, author = {{Carbon Market Watch}}, title = {{NGO letter ahead of ISWG-GHG}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2020}, month = oct, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/ngo-letter-ahead-of-iswg-ghg/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }