By Eric Colby.
Recreational boats account for less than 0.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a report called “Pathways to Propulsion Decarbonization for the Recreational Marine Industry” commissioned by the International Council of Marine Industry Associations. The same vessels also create 0.7% of transportation carbon dioxide emissions in the United States and 0.4% of those emissions in Europe. By comparison, 46% of emissions are generated by powering homes and industry, and 14% of emissions are created by global transportation.
“It’s our purpose and role in life to inform the industry without any corporate bias,” says Joe Lynch, CEO of ICOMIA, which has worked with legislative bodies in the United States, Australia, Europe, the United Kingdom and Sweden to find ways to decarbonize the industry. “It’s driven by the fact that everybody knows sustainability is our key responsibility.”
The report, presented at Metstrade in November, followed several years of action by other bodies. In 2016, 196 countries signed the United Nations Paris Agreement with the goal of achieving the “tolerable” limit of 1.5 degrees centigrade above preindustrial levels. To achieve that, greenhouse gases must peak before 2025 and decline by 43% by 2030. “Current forecasts are that we are not on track to meet this,” according to ICOMIA’s presentation.
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