News
Publish date: June 18, 2018
News
By: Jan Kjetil Paulsen, senior adviser, shipping.
Norway has a strong position in international shipping and maritime technology, and the maritime sector has long been a key focus area for Bellona. In cooperation with leading industrial players like The Fjords, Siemens, ABB, Color Line and Hurtigruten, Bellona has played an important role in the conversion to electrification and zero emission solutions currently underway in Norwegian short sea shipping.
In line with the increasing cruise traffic to Norwegian destinations and the environmental challenges associated with this, Bellona has also been heavily engaged in the public debate on sustainable tourism and zero emissions from international shipping over the past three years. The International Maritime Organization IMO decided earlier this year to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from shipping by 50 per cent by 2050. The Norwegian authorities make additional demands for shipping traffic along the coast, and in April, the Storting adopted zero emissions in the world heritage fjords Aurland, Nærøyfjorden, Sunnylvsfjorden and Geirangerfjorden from 2026.
Achieving this is demanding and could go beyond the financial capacity of the tourism industry and the communities affected. Bellona invites the players to dialogue and cooperation to develop the good solutions for sustainable tourism in local communities. Collaboration with Carnival will make an important contribution to this work.
Zero emissions from shipping is an integral part of Bellona’s vision and we consider cooperation with leading players in the industry absolutely necessary to succeed. Carnival is the world’s largest cruise company with nine global cruise brands. The company has sustainability as a top priority and has already taken significant measures to reduce energy consumption. Carnival wishes as the world’s largest cruise company, to take an absolute leading role for sustainable shipping and tourism.
Collaboration between Bellona and Carnival will enable us to increase our influence in developing and promoting sustainable solutions for the fast-growing cruise sector as well as international shipping. The cooperation will definitely support our vision of a sustainable cruise industry and zero emissions in vulnerable areas. Now, we are folding up our sleeves and work even harder to achieve this, together with the world’s largest cruise company.
Recent attacks on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "mark the beginning of a new and gravely dangerous front of the war," the UN atomic agency's director general said last week.
After years of inaction, Germany is working on its Carbon Management Strategy to resolve how CCS can play a role in climate action in industry. At the end of February, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action published first key points and a proposal to amend the law Kohlenstoffdioxid Speicherungsgesetz (KSpG). Bellona Deutschland, who was actively involved in the previous stakeholder dialogue submitted a statement in the association hearing.
In the midst of a global discussion on whether natural gas should be used as a transitional fuel and whether emissions from its extraction, production, transport and use are significantly less than those from other fossil fuels, Russia has developed ambitious plans to increase its own production of liquified natural gas (LNG) in the Arctic – a region with 75% of proven gas reserves in Russia – to raise its share in the international gas trade.
In this news digest, we monitor events that impact the environment in the Russian Arctic. Our main focus lies in identifying the factors that contribute to pollution risks and climate change.