In a victory for people and climate, the California Air Resources Board amended the Commercial Harbor Craft Rule in 2022, setting the first zero-emissions mandate for ferries in the U.S and requiring cleaner engine upgrades for tugboats and other regulated vessels. However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has yet to approve these lifesaving amendments. … Read more
WASHINGTON, DC [September 28, 2023] — In a letter sent to President Biden on World Maritime Day, 45 organizations called for an Executive Order to decarbonize maritime shipping. The Biden administration has already made significant commitments to eliminate emissions from the shipping industry, as well as to accelerate the development of zero-emission fuels and technologies … Read more
Civil society groups are deeply concerned by the UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) failure to firmly align global shipping with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C temperature-warming limit, at the 80th Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting (MEPC 80) this week. The IMO’s 175 member states failed to agree on absolute emission reduction targets for 2030 and 2040, … Read more
Civil society groups are deeply concerned about developments at the UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) climate negotiations this week (ISWG-GHG-15), in particular regarding the 2030 and 2040 climate targets that are necessary to put global shipping on a 1.5°C-aligned transition and ensure an equitable transition. The IMO’s 175 member states must urgently listen to climate … Read more
The global shipping industry can reduce emissions by nearly 50% by the end of the decade, according to a new study by CE Delft. These findings come as the UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) is about to reach an agreement on climate targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships in July. Civil society groups call on … Read more
The International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) agreement on shipping climate targets expected next month could be the starting gun for the radical climate action our planet desperately needs. Civil society groups are calling on the IMO member states to urgently support halving climate pollution from ships by 2030 and reaching zero-emission by 2040, at the Intersessional Working Group on Greenhouse … Read more
Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Alex Padilla (D-CA) today introduced a pair of bills aimed at reducing air pollution created by the global shipping industry. Whitehouse introduced the International Maritime Pollution Accountability Act, new legislation aiming to decarbonize the emissions-heavy maritime shipping industry, prevent the release of criteria air pollutants in port … Read more
Paris, France (June 2, 2023) – The second meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-2) for a global agreement to end plastic pollution concluded today at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, with civil society organizations appealing to governments not to allow the use of dilatory tactics and procedural questions to set back progress and lower … Read more
In honor of International Plastic Free Day and ahead of the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations, Pacific Environment has released a report that underscores the serious threats of plastic pollution, and presents a new global model showing how the plastics and petrochemical industries will need to change in order to stay within the 1.5 degree Celsius … Read more
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel Tuesday continued to tout the benefits of the proposed North Slope-to-tidewater gas pipeline and LNG export project, contrary to the Biden administration’s commitment to align its actions with a 1.5 °C pathway. Ambassador Emanuel took the stage during Governor Dunleavy’s Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference. “To push the Alaska gas … Read more
In honor of International Plastic Free Day and ahead of the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations, Pacific Environment has released a report that underscores the serious threats of plastic pollution, and presents a new global model showing how the plastics and petrochemical industries will need to change in order to stay within the 1.5 degree Celsius … Read more
Today, the Biden administration approved ConocoPhillips’ Willow project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, despite the 4.5 million comments received from Americans calling to reject this climate harming project. The Record of Decision approves the development of Alternative E, as described in the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. The ROD denied two of the five drill … Read more
United Nations conference chair and Singapore’s Ambassador for Oceans and Law of the Sea Issues Rena Lee announced a historic international treaty to protect the high seas, which covers nearly half the planet. This deal is seen as vital to conserving 30% of the world’s lands and ocean by 2020, as agreed to by about 190 … Read more
Happy New Year from all of us at Pacific Environment! Last year, we tackled everything from bubble tea sold in throw-away plastic containers to false, fossil-fueled promises in the shipping industry. We’re working across communities and oceans to build people power and protect our planet. And, we’re ready to do it all over again in … Read more
We had a great year with many important wins. But none of this would have been possible without our supporters. This support helps Pacific Environment collaborate with brave grassroots leaders to fight climate change, defend the oceans, protect wildlife, build just societies and move beyond fossil fuels toward a green economy. Our teams coordinate ambitious … Read more
The stage is set for the UN to finally call time on greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping, following a week of climate talks at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London. While the IMO failed to adopt a concrete shipping decarbonisation target for shipping this week, there was widespread support for eliminating the industry’s … Read more
This week’s round of technical talks at the UN’s maritime regulator showed countries are prepared to phase out shipping emissions by 2050. More crucially, support appears to be building for the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to also adopt an ambitious 2030 interim target for cutting emissions from ships. On the question of strengthening the 2050 … Read more
Today, California’s chief climate and air pollution regulator released a report on the status of the state’s world-first regulation to end in-port pollution from fossil fuel vessels. The report by California Air Resources Board (CARB) shows the continued success of the state’s in-port pollution regulation in protecting California port and coastal communities from significant … Read more
When I first started working in the environmental field, I was an environmental traditionalist. I enthusiastically worked on conservation of lands, waters, and wildlife. I worked to protect wild forests from being logged, to prevent endangered wildlife from disappearing, and to safeguard communities from industrial pollution fouling the air and water. In those early years, … Read more
It’s been a ground-breaking two weeks at COP27. Importantly, we’re celebrating the historic decision on loss and damage reparations. After two decades of advocacy, world governments finally agreed to establish a global “loss and damage” fund to help developing and climate-vulnerable countries and communities pay for the costs of managing climate-fueled weather extremes or impacts. … Read more