Today parties have their last and best chance to make progress on addressing emissions from
international shipping and aviation, already contributing to more than 5 percent of global emissions and
growing faster than any other sector. More than 15 years of negotiations in three UN bodies, including
the UNFCCC and the sectoral bodies IMO and ICAO, have produced very little, especially regarding
progress on market-based measures (MBMs) that can incentivise emissions reductions while generating
significant financing for mitigation and adaptation in developing countries, as well as for efficiency
measures within these sectors.
The principal stumbling block has been disagreement on how to reconcile the UNFCCC’s principles of
common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDRRC) with the principles
and approaches in the IMO and ICAO, based on global approaches with equivalent treatment on all
ships and aircraft, anywhere in the world. Technical work on exploring options for putting a price
on carbon in these sectors is well advanced, but lack of agreement on how to reconcile the different
principles is blocking progress.
Today the LCA spin-off group on sectoral approaches will consider text that addresses exactly this
issue, and one text option on the table could hold the key to breaking this long-standing deadlock.
Singapore has proposed a short elegant text that can provide the basis for a useful guidance to IMO and
ICAO. Parties should simply agree here under the UNFCCC that measures to tackle emissions in these
sectors under IMO and ICAO should be pursued through global approaches based on the principles of
those bodies, while also taking into account UNFCCC principles, including CBDRRC, with perhaps
direction on how – e.g., through the use of finance. This might be a simple solution that could be a
great leap forward for these crucial sectors. Think about it!