Leaders in the shipping industry are calling for speed limits on commercial vessels.

It is believed that such efforts will cut emissions and help protect the environment in an era of consistent global shipping.

Many shipping industry leaders are looking to the International Maritime Organization to help them figure out how to combat global temperature increases. Ideally, the shipping industry could play a part in halting or possibly even reducing the current rate of global temperature increases.

The shipping industry’s role in all of this is centered around Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions. Predictions suggest that by 2030 the annual CO2 emissions produced by the shipping industry will total more than 600,000,000 metric tonnes. However, the shipping industry is not powerless in changing its future, as these current efforts suggest. A 10% reduction in shipping vessels’ speeds could bring the 2030 predictions below the 600,000,000 metric tonnes figure. Furthermore, speed reductions of 20-30% have the potential to reduce CO2 emissions to 500,000,000 metric tonnes annually, if not lower.

A large part of this effort is due to the fact that global shipping was left out of the 2015 UN Paris Agreement on climate. This is because international maritime shipping doesn’t fall under the jurisdiction of any individual country. Maritime law is quite different from the laws applied by any particular UN member state, so it comes down to international shipping companies to make any changes regarding their CO2 emissions. There are already plans in place to halve CO2 emissions from 2008 to 2050.

The International Maritime Organization hopes to reduce emissions of CO2, hydrogen, and natural gas in order to meet targets set for 2050.