A cemetery on the shoreline on Majuro Atoll being flooded at high tide in 2008. The low-lying Marshall Islands, a Pacific atoll chain that rises barely a meter above sea level. Giff Johnson/AFP/Getty Images
At a recent meeting in London, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) passed on the opportunity to set global emissions standards for the shipping industry. The Marshall Islands, which are experiencing the effects of rapid sea level rise, had proposed a cap on the shipping industry's emissions. Due to no verifiable measure on how to monitor progress, the Pacific island nation's plea was rejected by the IMO. Eficiency is a very top priority of the shipping industry and progress has been made. But it's just not enough as Maritime CO2 emissions are projected to increase 50% to 250% percent by 2050.
In a must read blog post by Carbon Brief, the growing shipping sector has become a major player in GHG.
More than 90% of global trade goes by sea. According to the IMO, there were more than 104,000 ships in the world registered in over 150 nations in 2010.This comes with an environmental cost. Shipping is responsible for around 3.1% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Every year between 2007 and 2012, ships emitted an average of one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide - more than Germany.Total global emissions must fall to net zero in the second half of the century in order to have a good chance of meeting an international target of limiting average temperature rise to below 2C, according to the UN's panel of climate scientists.
Sea level rise will threaten every single sea port in the near future. The most danger comes from storm surge which we witnessed with hurricanes Katrina, Rita and most recently super storm Sandy. "Warmer water in the oceans pumps more energy into tropical storms, making them stronger and potentially more destructive. Even with storms of the same intensity, future hurricanes will cause more damage as higher sea levels exacerbate storm surges, flooding, and erosion."Bloomberg Business reports on the top 20 cities with billions at risk from climate change.
More than 130 port cities around the world are at increasing risk from severe storm-surge flooding, damage from high storm winds, rising and warming global seas and local land subsidence. Poorly planned development often puts more people in vulnerable areas, too, increasing risk. About $3 trillion of assets are at risk today, a tally on track to reach $35 trillion by 2070, according to an ongoing study by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.
The world's seaports are not prepared for the expensive infrastructure improvements needed to survive sea level rise. Only a few have even begun to discuss adaption and that first occurred in 2009. In researching this diary, I have found very few studies and data on sea level rise impacts to the worlds ports. The
NY Times reported on this issue back in 2011, but had to focus primarily on what had been observed on the Gulf coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as data is simply not available. Powerful wind storms can not only inundate the port, but roads, train lines, electricity, and other infrastructure. Pacific Islands look to first zero emissions cargo network stating that the best option may be to delve into their own maritime traditions.
Attribution unknown
Pacific Islands look to first zero emissions cargo network
If wind power is adapted, a huge dent in GHG emissions are possible. Good intentions do not make policy though.
This, at least, is the vision of several groups, including Sailing for Sustainability and the Fijian Island Voyaging Society, which are trying to bring these designs back to life and apply them in a way that could act as inter island traders. Greenheart projects campaigns co-ordinator Jennifer Teeter said the “Sail-Powered Village Vessels” pilot Programme, and the creation of the first zero-emissions cargo network in the world, would be transformative for the Pacific community. “Sea-transport is literally these islands’ lifelines and servicing such communities has long been a major development barrier for Pacific governments,” she says.