The outcome of this week’s climate talks at the UN’s shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), is yet another blow to any efforts to start reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ocean shipping.

The coming months represent an opportunity for a dialogue between parties on why this wording should be included in the Paris Agreement at COP 21.

In the final years of negotiations for the new climate agreement, it’s still not clear if it will include the fastest growing emissions sources — international aviation and shipping, also known as bunker fuels.

The latest round of climate talks concluded in Lima last month with a sense that some of the basics have been agreed to set the foundations of a global agreement in Paris next year.

For the first time, all shipping companies calling at EU ports will have to measure and publicly report carbon emissions under a law approved by an overwhelming majority of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee today.

The European Parliament’s Environment Committee voted overwhelmingly today to support and strengthen some elements of the Commission’s proposal for monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of shipping emissions.

Shipping activities are set to increase as the melting of Arctic ice accelerates. This will lead to increased emissions which will exacerbate Arctic melting and pose a growing threat to the environment in the region.