Shipping is one of the fastest growing sources of transport greenhouse gas emissions, and is also a major source of the air pollution that causes acid rain. Like aviation, the sector's international emissions were excluded from the 1997 Kyoto climate targets with responsibility instead handed to a UN global regulator, the IMO, who has so far failed to act. The critical question is currently whether shipping emissions will be included in the next global climate agreement, to be agreed in Copenhagen in December 2009.

Issues

Background
An excellent overview of the environmental impacts of shipping and how the sector has escaped regulation has been written by the investigative journalist Adam Sarvana at DCBureau. Read the article: Part I, Part II, Part III

Shipping emissions and the Copenhagen climate talks

• FAQ:Aviation and shipping emissions at Copenhagen
• Briefing: Shipping GHGs and Copenhagen
• T&E Bulletin: Finance ministers hold back progress on aviation and shipping climate talks
• Factsheet: Aviation and shipping emissions in the run-up to Copenhagen
• Factsheet: the carbon footprint of shipping
• T&E report: How ICAO and the IMO failed the climate change test

Air pollution from ships

• Briefing and full report: Reducing NOx emissions from Shipping
• T&E Bulletin: Environmental and health impact of shipping seriously underestimated
• T&E Bulletin: Sulphur deal for shipping but still no IMO action on climate impact
• Report: Air pollution from ships

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