Shipping

The International Maritime Organization's Marine Environment Protection Committee met in October 2024, addressing GHG emissions from ships, energy efficiency of ships, new Emission Control Areas, new Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas, ballast water management, marine litter, air pollution prevention, underwater radiated noise from commercial shipping, pollution prevention and response and ship recycling.

According to the report available on the IMO website, some of the main outcomes were as follows:

Emissions from shipping currently account for at least 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions and 8% of sulphur dioxide emissions.

The International Maritime Organization is working on a net-zero framework for cutting greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping, which will include amendments to MARPOL (the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships), aiming to achieve the targets contained in the 2023 IMO Strategy on the Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships.

MEPC 82 made progress on the development of mid-term measures aimed at cutting down greenhouse gas emissions (building on previously adopted "short-term measures" for GHG reduction which focus on enhancing energy efficiency of ships), which include: 

• a technical element, i.e., a global marine fuel standard regulating the phased reduction of a marine fuel's GHG intensity; and 

• an economic element, i.e., a maritime GHG emissions pricing mechanism.

The Committee produced a "draft IMO net-zero framework", including possible amendments to be made to MARPOL. Intersessional  meetings of the Working Group on Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ships will be held in February and April 2025, ahead of the next MEPC meeting (MEPC 83), scheduled for 7-11 April 2025. The goal would be to attain approval of the amendments to MAROPL at MEPC 83 in April 2025 with adoption in October 2025.

The idea for a pricing mechanism was  supported in August 2024 by the International Chamber of Shipping (a global association of shipowners, representing over 80% of the world merchant fleet), working with the governments of Bahamas and Liberia, two of the largest Flag States. Their proposal would establish a GHG Fee, charged to ships per tonne of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) emitted, combined with a “feebate” mechanism to incentivise the accelerated production and uptake of zero/near-zero GHG marine fuels, such as green ammonia, hydrogen and methanol, sustainable biofuels, and new technologies such as on-board carbon capture (see their press release here).

In terms of marine protection, MEPC 82 designated two new Emission Control Areas (ECAs) (areas where special mandatory measures to regulate emissions from ships are required to prevent, reduce and control air pollution from Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Sulphur Oxides (Sox) and Particulate Matter (PM) , and their adverse impacts on human health and the environment) in Canadian Arctic Waters and the Norwegian Sea. The Committee also designated the Nusa Penida Islands and Gili Matra Islands in Lombok Strait as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA), following a proposal by Indonesia.

With regard to marine plastic pollution, MEPC 82 approved the Guidelines on good practice relating to clean-up of plastic pellets from ship-source releases, which provides practical guidance for government authorities on issues such as contingency planning, response, post-spill monitoring and analysis, and intervention and cost recovery, and continued discussions on the development of mandatory regulations to address plastic pellets released from ships.

With respect to underwater noise, amendments were made to the Guidelines for the reduction of underwater noise from commercial shipping to address adverse impacts on marine life, to include an Action Plan which aims to address barriers to the uptake of the Revised URN Guidelines in order to further prevent and reduce URN from ships. The guidelines provide an overview of approaches applicable to designers, shipbuilders and ship operators to reduce the underwater radiated noise of any given ship.

Charting A Course for Shipping Decarbonisation: Key Outcomes and Analysis from MEPC 82
Marine Insight, 04.11.24

Find out more about shipping and pollution here.