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
Washington D.C.– Today, Congressman Robert Garcia (CA-42), alongside Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), introduced the Clean Shipping Act of 2023. Congresswoman Nanette Barragán (CA-44) is a co-lead. Global emissions from all vessels account for about 3% of total GHG emissions each year; if international shipping was its own country, it would rank sixth on the list of largest … 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
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
SACRAMENTO (February 29, 2023) – Today, Yana Garcia was confirmed by the CA Senate Rules Committee as the Secretary of Environmental Protection for the State of California, where she oversees the state’s efforts to fight climate change. Secretary Garcia has a proven track record of environmental leadership and advocacy. She has served in numerous roles … 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
Seoul, South Korea (December 13, 2022) – Today, Solutions for Our Climate (기후솔루션) and Pacific Environment released a new report that provides an achievable vision for green shipping and a zero-emission future for the Korean shipping industry. Shipping is the bloodline of South Korea’s economy, with 99.7% of South Korea’s imports and exports transported by … 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
SACRAMENTO (November 17, 2022) – Yesterday, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) released its final 2022 Scoping Plan, the state’s five-year roadmap for achieving its climate goals. After months of consultation with climate experts and advocates, as well as intervention from Governor Newsom, the plan reflects some significant improvements, including the initiation of an interagency process to … Read more
Washington, D.C. (November 17, 2022) – Today, a group of 31 environmental and community organizations and 13 industry organizations sent letters to Democratic leadership in Congress calling on them to support the Clean Shipping Act of 2022 (H.R. 8336). Introduced by Representatives Alan Lowenthal (CA-47) and Nanette Barragán (CA-44) in July, the bill aims to … Read more
Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt (November 8, 2022) — The global retail giant Walmart Corporation has again chosen not to take even basic steps to address its massive maritime pollution footprint by failing to join either the Green Shipping Challenge or the First Movers Coalition in the opening days of COP27. The coalitions, both spearheaded by … Read more
Sharm El Sheikh (November 7, 2022) – Today at COP27, the United States and Norway launched a global Green Shipping Challenge, creating a platform for more than two dozen commitments to accelerate ship decarbonization and keep the 1.5 degree climate goal alive. Pacific Environment commends the U.S. and Norway, specifically U.S. Presidential Envoy for Climate Secretary … Read more
In solidarity with our local partners, Pacific Environment condemns the conduct of Los Angeles City Council members Nury Martinez, Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo and calls all three members to resign and step away from public office. We call on the City of Los Angeles to listen deeply to its community and take the … Read more
San Francisco, Calif. (October 6, 2022) – California Governor Newsom, Oregon Governor Brown, Washington Governor Inslee, and British Columbia Premier Hogan signed a new Statement of Cooperation (SOC), including a new initiative to pursue zero-carbon shipping and to decarbonize port equipment and operations. The U.S. West Coast states and B.C. have some of the world’s … Read more
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (September 26, 2022) – MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company SA announced that it has started developing a new MSC Air Cargo line on top of its container shipping service. The privately-held giant shipper headquartered in Geneva Switzerland announced an intent to start its air freight service in 2023, with the first of four MSC-branded … Read more
