Deal! Hundreds of delegates from around the world rise to their feet, smiles break out from behind diplomatic poker faces, and applause fills the huge plenary room of the UN\u2019s International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There had been two weeks of intense negotiations, but 7 July was one of those UN moments \u2013 like the signing of the Paris Agreement itself \u2013 that we wait years for. Governments had finally agreed tougher climate targets<\/a> for global shipping, an industry that emits 1 billion tonnes of CO2 a year. For scale, the entirety of south and central America emitted 1.3 billion tonnes<\/a> in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But was it real? Will this agreement really lower emissions? And is it aligned with the Paris Agreement? Let\u2019s take a closer look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The main part of the deal was to agree on more stringent climate targets, that reduce emissions faster and further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What IMO had previously was a commitment to \u201cat least halve\u201d shipping emissions by 2050. The revised target this month is for shipping to reach net<\/em>-zero emissions \u201cby or around, i.e. close to 2050\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That convoluted language was the price of bringing countries already committed to bringing shipping emissions down to zero by 2050 together with countries that have later domestic net<\/em>-zero targets (such as China\u2019s 2060), and others for whom the concept of aiming for zero emissions is still a stretch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nevertheless, significant progress has been made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What about action even sooner? IPCC climate scientists tell us that this decade is essential for bringing down cumulative emissions to keep global warming to 1.5C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here, Pacific Island states, particularly the Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu, showed immense diplomatic skill and resilience. They persuaded other countries to agree on stretch goals of \u201cat least 20%, striving for 30%<\/em>\u201d emissions reduction by 2030 (compared to the IMO\u2019s fixed baseline of 2008), and \u201cat least 70%, striving for 80%<\/em>\u201d by 2040.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe IMO\u2019s stricter climate targets<\/h2>\n\n\n\n