Mohamed Adow, Reuters

Pushing back against dirty shipping could lead to big strides against climate change
Nowhere suffers more from the ravages of climate change than Africa. Be they rising temperatures, droughts or coastal storms like Cyclone Idai, we are bearing the brunt.  One of the primary culprits that drives this climate crisis is the global shipping industry.

When most people think about what causes climate change, they may picture belching coal plants or exhaust fumes.  But shipping, out of sight to most of us on land, emits over 1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. If it ranked as a country it would be above all but the top 5 polluters on the planet.

What is worrying is that shipping carries 80% of global trade. So as trade increases, so does shipping. In fact, the size of the global shipping fleet has quadrupled since the 1980s.

The good news is that this week governments from around the world are meeting to tackle this polluting menace. There are now more than 30 ‘high ambition’ countries who support “goal-based operational efficiency” – which could, if set at the right stringency, cut the sector’s emissions by over 40% by 2030, preventing up to 90 coal-fired power stations worth of CO2 entering our atmosphere.