MEPC 80: Vanuatu minister sets out to bust climate discussion myths

Vanuatu's climate change minister Ralph Regenvanu has tried to dispel "disinformation" at the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meetings this week.

PHOTO: The IMO's 80th Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting at IMO HQ this week. IMO

Vanuatu is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean and has also been a member of IMO since 1986. Several island nations are considered to be more vulnerable to climate change and melting ice caps. Rising sea levels can pose existential threats to some.

Regenvanu expressed in a social media post that shipping has the potential and technological means to align greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction ambitions with the climate targets set in the Paris Agreement in 2015 to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

His post seeks to clear up some myths about the MEPC meeting this week:

Myth 1: "'Developed countries are pushing for a GHG levy.' Absurd. Developing countries in the Pacific are leading this fight. Decarbonising shipping & protecting the most vulnerable? OUR priority. We’ve picked up support from many developed countries, not the other way around."

Myth 2: "'1.5 aligned targets are unrealistic' Nonsense. In fact, shipping has the tech, the scale, the institution in the IMO that can coordinate, to get us there. What it will show if we fail to set ambitious targets is one thing only: an absolute failure of political will."

Myth 3: "'Shipping ambition is split on developed/ developing lines.' Wrong. Pacific developing countries have been at the forefront of this – often well ahead of developed countries. Fellow developing countries should think twice before pretending they speak for us."

Myth 4: "'Carrying on, as usual, will keep costs down for developing countries.' What will actually happen is that we’ll see regional and national approaches imposed that will tax developing countries’ trade with no money returned to them."

Myth 5: "'A levy will mess with markets.' A few corrections: a) a comprehensive impact assessment in the coming year will assess just that; b) analysis so far indicates its impact on the vast majority of trade will be marginal - it’s a market signal; c) inaction will cost far more."

Myth 6: "'We can afford to carry on as usual.' Tell that to those losing land & homes, to victims of drought & wildfires. Major shipping states and rich countries are making the transition already – the question is whether we make it equitable and go fast enough to save lives."