MEPC to adopt global strategy in phasing out greenhouse gas emissions from shipping industry

New Delhi: The 80th Session of Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) kicked off on Monday to adopt a global strategy on range of issues, including greenhouse gas emissions from shipping at IMO Headquarters in London.

The meeting will be held from 3 to 7 July to review ongoing efforts, the Committee is expected to adopt a “greenhouse gas emissions strategy” in response to climate change and threats to biodiversity, following meetings with IMO.

Tasked with addressing environmental issues under the remit of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Committee tackles such issues as the control and prevention of ship-source pollution covered by the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), including oil, chemicals carried in bulk, sewage, garbage, and such emissions from ships as air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.

Addressing the opening session UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a video message said “Humanity is in dangerous waters on climate”.

“Science tells us it is still possible to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 °C, but it requires an immense and immediate global effort, and shipping, which accounts for almost three per cent of global emissions, will be vital” he added.

The decisions “you take over the coming days could help us chart a safer course”, he said, urging Committee members to agree on a strategy forward.

“This is a historic moment in which all of you have a role to play,” IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim said, encouraging States to help roll out the new strategy by forging ambitious targets that will put shipping on a “clear trajectory” to phase out greenhouse gas emissions.

“The 2023 strategy will be your legacy, for which your children and grandchildren will be grateful,” he said. “The time for IMO to demonstrate its global leadership is now.”

The revised strategy is expected to set out the way forward for possible technical and economic measures to be further developed by IMO

Underlining the importance of concrete legal measures to project biodiversity, he recalled that nearly two decades of discussion had led to the landmark Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), adopted at the UN headquarters on 19 June 2023.

Together, with the Kunming-Montreal Global Framework for Biodiversity, adopted last December and ongoing negotiations for a new legally binding instrument to tackle plastic pollution, he said

“There is no doubt that your Committee’s efforts to ensure a greener, more equitable and more sustainable maritime future is of greater importance than ever before” he added.