There was jubilation on Saturday evening in the plenary session of COP21 in Paris when 195 countries adopted what has been hailed a landmark climate change agreement. But the Danish shipping giant Maersk is disappointed that regulation of the shipping industry was left out of the deal.
The COP21 agreement, which is partly legally binding and partly voluntary, commits all countries to reduce carbon emissions and to keep global temperature increases below 2 degrees celcius.
John Kornerup Bang, the chief climate advisor at Maersk, explained that the company had hoped that the agreement would also include global requirements of the shipping industry, but that this was omitted from the final agreement.
“We are disappointed that it didn’t end up in the final agreement,” he said.
“For a long time we have pushed for global regulation, but this has unfortunately not happened.”
Maersk argues that international regulation is inevitable and that a lack thereof simply encourages shipping lines to sail under the flags of countries with the least stringent rules.
Kornerup draws attention to Maersk Line’s investment in more energy-efficient vessels and states that international environmental regulation would give the company a competitive advantage.
“It would definitely be an advantage for us. We believe that it is important that those that are green and effective be rewarded. That’s the only way to make them bigger,” he said.
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