CO2 emissions marked record growth in 2016

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) noted that CO2 concentrations in the Earth’s atmosphere increased with a record speed in 2016, with only last year’s increase 50% higher than the average of the past 10 years.

According to the latest WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, issued on Monday, a combination of human activities and the El Niño weather phenomenon drove CO2 to a level not seen in 800,000 years.

This year’s bulletin is based on measurements from 51 countries, including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.

According to IMO’s third GHG study, the maritime transport emits around 1000 million tonnes of CO2 annually and is responsible for about 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Shipping emissions are predicted to increase between 50% and 250% by 2050 – depending on future economic and energy developments. Considerable efforts have been made over recent years within both the IMO and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)  with a  view to ensure a fair contribution of the sector to the objective of the Paris agreement to limit the average increase of the temperatures to +1,5°C.

In particular, during MEPC 70 meeting, IMO reached an agreement on a global data collection system and agreed to develop a Road Map for addressing CO2 emissions from international shipping, with initial CO2 reduction commitments to be agreed to by 2018.