The heads of state from Palau, Nauru, Kiribati, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands have suggested withdrawal from The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) in a communiqué the leaders signed at the end of their meeting in Koror, Palau. "Presidents agreed that the solidarity and integrity of the PIF is strengthened by the Gentlemen's Agreement, that this issue is one of respect and Pacific Unity, and that it is non-negotiable for Member States,'' the communiqué stated.

"Our solidarity and integrity in the PIF are strengthened by this agreement, and to me this issue is non-negotiable. I don't want this to lead to fragmentation of our PIF, but it might do that," Tommy Remengesau, President of Palau, said.

The sub-region was determined to see the next PIFS secretary-general come from Micronesia.

 

For additional details, please visit the link below:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/427562/micronesian-nations-to-withdraw-from-forum-if-concerns-not-heeded 

Posted on - 2020-10-04

The Ocean Conservancy published a new report, ‘Zero-Carbon for Shipping’ at the UN Climate Week in New York, highlighting insufficient action by the global shipping industry to address the climate crisis. Weakly regulated and currently off-course to fall well short climate targets needed to stay within the 1.5 degree Celsius target required (achieving less than 25% of the needed ambition in action).

Pathways have been proposed in the report to transition from a heavy dependency on fossil fuels to alternative fuels, but the question remains - why hasn’t global shipping been moving swiftly enough?

 

Not all greenhouse gases are being evaluated by the IMO, and now, in accordance with analysis by the International Council on Clean Transport, "Methane, which traps 86 times more heat in the atmosphere than the same amount of CO2 over a 20-year time period, represents a small but rapidly growing share of greenhouse gas emissions from shipping. The 150% growth in methane emissions from 2012 to 2018 was largely due to a surge in the number of ships fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG)".

 

For additional details on the findings of the Ocean Conservancy's report and other UN Climate Week updates, please visit the link below:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/09/25/loud-calls-for-global-shipping-to-ditch-fossil-fuels-and-meet-climate-goals/#4b9d75012aaf 

Posted on - 2020-10-04

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is responsible for oversight of maritime safety, maritime security, marine environmental protection, legal matters, technical cooperation and other elements of the international maritime transport sector.

A recent publication by Harilaos N. Psaraftis & Christos A. Kontovas in Maritime Economics & Logistics examines the main parameters of ‘influence’ at the IMO, looking at the role of member states, industry, and other players, and whether their actions to influence the sector are transparent enough, particularly with pertinence to activities of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) and efforts to decarbonize shipping. NGOs have been criticizing the IMO for the undue influence of industry on regulatory measures needed to meet the decarbonization targets set globally, and the publication reviews the position of the NGOs accusing the IMO as regards influence and transparency, describes the IMO regulatory structure, and analyzes relevant issues, including delegation size, delegation composition, number of submissions and other factors that may affect representation and influence in IMO decision-making.

The full publication may be found at the link below.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41278-020-00149-4 

Posted on - 2020-10-04