The United States, Britain and 17 other countries committed at the United Nations global climate summit Wednesday to curb emissions from the shipping industry by creating zero-emission shipping routes, a move that comes amid growing concern over shoreline air pollution from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The agreement, called the Clydebank Declaration, says countries will work together to invest in clean energy infrastructure at ports at both ends of major trade routes, establishing at least six “green corridors” by the middle of the decade, which will eventually make it possible to transition ships away from fossil fuels toward cleaner sources of power. If these changes are enacted, governments could require that only emissions-free ships travel from Shanghai to Los Angeles, for example, or from Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, to New York. The initiative is part of an effort announced last week to reduce the maritime sector’s emissions to zero by 2050.
The other countries that signed the pledge at the summit in Scotland are Denmark, Japan, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Chile, Costa Rice, Belgium, Fiji, Finland, Ireland, Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden.
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