LONDON – Yesterday, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) kicked off a series of three meetings which will help determine whether maritime shipping  will create and enforce measures to reduce the industry’s carbon emissions. From March 31 through April 1, the IMO’s Intersessional Working Group on Reduction of GHG Emissions will try to reach agreement on a global fuel standard and greenhouse gas levy, followed by the three-day Intersessional Working Group on Air Pollution, which will aim to revise and improve the functioning of the IMO’s carbon intensity indicator (CII). From April 7-11, the IMO’s Marine Environment Protect Committee (MEPC) is scheduled to approve legal text on each of three issues detailed below. What is approved during MEPC 83 will then be adopted at a session of MEPC in October 2025. 

Delaine McCullough, Ocean Conservancy’s Shipping Emissions Policy Manager and President of the Clean Shipping Coalition, is on the ground in London and issued the following statement:

“The next couple of weeks at the IMO represent a crucial window for governments to slash shipping’s climate heating greenhouse gas emissions.

“The global shipping industry emits an estimated 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases each year – if it were a country, it would be the sixth biggest climate polluter in the world. That’s why it’s so critical for IMO member states to secure agreements on ambitious energy efficiency measures – the carbon intensity indicator (CII) – as well as strong and enforceable fuel standards and a levy on all greenhouse gas emissions from ships, which together could dramatically reduce shipping’s contribution to heating the planet. 

“The CII is the IMO’s tool for measuring and enhancing a ship’s energy efficiency and is key to cutting emissions in the short term, as well as a long-term tool for improving and maintaining a ship’s efficiency. By the time the final gavel comes down on April 11th, IMO Member States must agree that the planned revision of the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) will take place without delay, to ensure the CII can make the necessary contribution to reaching the 2030 IMO greenhouse gas strategy targets. The CII must quantify and raise ship efficiency while fostering greater transparency and driving deep and lasting reductions in pollution, moving the sector towards a just, equitable, and lowest-cost transition to zero emission shipping.”

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