Climate Changes and Maritime Transportation: A State of the Art

In the next years, the worldwide fleet will be called to adopt drastic measures to reduce their emissions of pollutants. In order to comply with the Paris Agreement and keep the average increase in the earth's temperature below 2°C, anthropogenic emissions will have to drop significantly from 2020 onwards. Maritime transportation plays an important role in these policies. At the end of 2018, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) expects the IMO to communicate its intentions regarding the Paris Agreement. During the last session of MEPC71 guidelines have been set for the purpose. While waiting for regulatory updates in the maritime world, the study aims at interpreting the present position of IMO on the subject within the framework set by the IPCC's last Assessment Report, AR5. The Third IMO study on GHG (3° IMO-GHG's) is analyzed in details, covering the inventory for the period 2007 to 2012 of GHG and of non-GHG emissions in the world's fleet and the forecast scenario for years 2012 to 2050. A last part of the work will concern the effects of these pollutants, with reference to the impact on human health and on environment.