UN chief urges airlines and shipping firms to do more to cut emissions

Airlines and shipping companies have failed to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, and must step up with fresh commitments on the climate crisis as Cop26 approaches, the UN secretary general has said. António Guterres said current efforts were inadequate and would lead to catastrophic global heating. He told the Global Sustainable Transport conference on Thursday: “Let’s be honest. While [UN] member states have made some initial steps through the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization to address emissions from shipping and aviation, current commitments are not aligned with the 1.5C goal of the Paris agreement. In fact, they are more consistent with warming way above 3C.” World leaders and governments will meet in Glasgow from 31 October for the fortnight-long Cop26 summit on the climate crisis. Representatives from the aviation and shipping industries will attend, but international transport has largely escaped scrutiny at previous UN conferences because they were left out of the long-running talks nearly three decades ago. Aviation and shipping each account for roughly 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and that share is growing. Both face major technological difficulties in decarbonising, as planes need high-density fuel and ships run on dirty forms of heavy oil.<br/>