French rail strike resumes, gov’t won't back down
OSLO, Norway (Reuters) – Global shipping should set a goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Norway's government and shipowners' association said before talks by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London this week.
Norway's fleet is worth about $45 billion, the fifth most valuable in the world behind Japan, Greece, China and the United States. Norway's shipping includes offshore, gas, chemicals, car vessels, dry bulk, crude, crude products and containers.
The IMO, which says international shipping represents about 2.2 percent of world carbon dioxide emissions, will meet from April 9-13 to develop a strategy to combat climate change. Shipping was not included in the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
"Emissions should be reduced by 50 percent towards 2050 compared to 2008," Harald Solberg, head of the Norwegian Shipowners' Association, told a joint news conference with Trade Minister Torbjoern Rooe Isaksen.
"In the same period demand will increase by maybe 60 percent, so in absolute terms it's more than a half," Solberg said.
"We need international rules ... our base line is the same as the Norwegian Shipowners (to cut emissions by 50 percent towards 2050)," Isaksen told Reuters.
"We hope the IMO will agree on these ambitious emission targets. That is the only solution, if not we fear regional solutions, and that will not work," Solberg said.
He said that the association's vision is that shipping should be emissions free in 2100.
The IMO says its Marine Environment Protection Committee is expected "to adopt an initial strategy on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships" at the meeting in London.
The Paris Agreement sets a goal of phasing out net greenhouse gas emissions in the second half of the century, mainly by shifting from fossil fuels to cleaner energies such as solar and wind power.
PARIS (AFP) – French rail workers launched their latest two-day strike on Sunday over plans to overhaul the heavily indebted train operator SNCF, the biggest test yet to President Emmanuel Macron's drive to reform the country's economy.
Neither side appears ready to back down, with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe warning that the government would not be deterred despite union pledges for three months of rolling stoppages, and possibly more.
''I get messages from people who support the government, saying we need to carry this through all the way. And that's what we are going to do,'' Philippe told the Parisien newspaper Sunday.
Just one in five high-speed TGV trains were operating and similar disruptions were expected Monday, with roughly one-quarter of Eurostar trains serving London to be cancelled, the SNCF said.
On some main lines just one in six trains will be running Monday, and only one in three regional trains, including the heavily used lines serving the Paris region.
Among international lines, Thalys trains to Brussels and beyond will be operating ''almost normally'' but only one in six trains to Switzerland will run, one in five to Spain and one in three to Germany, and all trains to Italy are cancelled.
Public opinion appears to be swinging toward the government, with an Ifop poll published Sunday by the Journal du Dimanche newspaper – carried out April 5-6, just after last week's strike – showing 62 percent in favor of the SNCF reform.
It was an increase of 11 percentage points from Ifop's survey on March 3031, in which just 51 percent supported the reform.
''I understand the determination of certain unions, but they need to understand mine as well,'' Philippe said.
Macron, who has barely spoken publicly about the conflict so far, is scheduled to give an hour-long TV interview on Thursday.
Rail unions show no signs of giving in, setting up a showdown that could spell weeks of headaches for the network's 4.5 million daily passengers.
''We're going to have a marathon if the government forces it,'' Laurent Brun of the CGT's rail branch said Friday after two days of talks with government officials, while warning that the strike could extend beyond its scheduled end on June 28.
Unions also claim broad public support, with a fund set up to compensate striking workers' lost wages garnering over 460,000 euros from nearly 14,000 donors as of Sunday.
At stake is the government's plan to deny a guaranteed job for life and early pensions to new hires, which it says is necessary to improve the SNCF's flexibility and cost cutting.