UN agrees historic but inadequate deal on shipping emissions

Shipping has become the first industry to have internationally binding targets to reduce CO2 emissions.

From 2028, owners of large ships will have to increase their use of less carbon-intensive fuels or pay fines measured by the tonne.

The agreement, passed on Friday at the UN’s International Maritime Organization meeting, follows ten years of negotiations.

It survived last-minute interventions from Saudi Arabia, which requested the deal be put to a vote, and the US, which pulled out of talks on Tuesday night because it didn’t like plans to put money raised from penalties into a green fund supporting developing countries.

Nearly 90 per cent of excess shipping emissions will still be exempt from carbon fines, and there are fears shipping firms will replace bunker fuel with biofuels – which pose their own environmental problems.

Shipping accounts for 3 per cent of global emissions.

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