LONDON, U.K. – The International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Marine Environmental Protection Committee’s 79th session concluded on Friday, 16 December 2022. Delaine McCullough, Shipping Emissions Policy Manager at Ocean Conservancy, released the following statement in reaction to the meeting’s outcome: 

“We saw a welcome change in approach to decarbonizing the shipping industry at the latest round of IMO meetings. Instead of the lack of urgency and inadequate commitments that we’ve seen too often at the IMO, for the first time, countries started to show support for full decarbonization of the shipping sector by 2050. Even though this new attitude didn’t result in any decisions this time around, this newfound spirit of action is what’s necessary to deliver the amount of shipping emission reductions we need to keep the industry in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.  

“Next year is the decisive year when the IMO will draft its new greenhouse gas emission strategy. At that time, we need to see countries carry forward the attitude and urgency they displayed during this past week and commit to zeroing out shipping emissions by 2040, 2050 at the latest, and adopting a near term target of at least 50% emissions reductions by 2030.” 

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Delaine McCullough is available for interviews upon request.  

About Ocean Conservancy 

Ocean Conservancy is working to protect the ocean from today’s greatest global challenges. Together with our partners, we create evidence-based solutions for a healthy ocean and the wildlife and communities that depend on it. For more information, visit oceanconservancy.org, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.