"Tiny Marshall Islands vs. Big Shipping Emissions"

"It's a bit of a David vs. Goliath story, but seeing an 'existential threat,' a small vulnerable archipelago is taking a stand against big maritime interests."

"The Marshall Islands’ foreign minister wasn’t holding back last year when he told global maritime regulators that “carbon emissions, including those from shipping, pose an existential threat” to the island’s and its 50,000 inhabitants.

Addressing the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a branch of the United Nations, nearly a year ago, Foreign Minister Tony de Brum used moral suasion in urging a commitment to cut shipping fleet carbon emissions.

Despite its tiny population, the Marshall Islands plays an outsized role in international shipping. It’s the flag state of more than 3,000 vessels carrying 40 percent of the tonnage of all goods shipped on the high seas, and earning the small country lucrative service fees."

Daniel Grossman reports for Yale Climate Connections February 10, 2016.