News
Discussions were held for new rules for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping at the 82nd session of the International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), which was convened at the IMO’s headquarters in London from Sept. 30 to last Monday. The meeting agreed on amendments to relevant conventions and directions of future discussions on environmental measures, such as a comprehensive revision to the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention).
Currently, the IMO is working to introduce new rules for GHG emissions from international shipping to clear the goals the IMO has set.
At MEPC 82, views were exchanged on the proposals made by governments. They included one jointly made by Japan and Europe on a convention revision draft consisting of a system for regulating marine fuel GHG intensities from ships and a system for assessing fines on GHG emissions from ship and making refunds to ships running on zero-emission fuels.
As for the convention revision draft, however, there are challenges to address in the future, such as how to calculate GHG intensities, at what standards they should be regulated, whether flexibility measures should be introduced, and preferential treatments should be applied on trade lanes to and from developing economies. As there are opinions against the fine and refund system, MEPC 82 decided to continue discussing it. Hoping to have the draft approved at MEPC 83, which is scheduled for April next year, MEPC agreed to have two working group meetings to advance discussions so that a consensus is made.
Other developments made at MEPC 82 included the adoption of amendments to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL Convention) to add the Canadian Arctic Sea and the Norwegian Sea as the NOx, SOx and particulate matter (PM) emission control areas (ECAs). As for the BWM Convention, MEPC 82 agreed to continue discussions on what to do to maintain performance levels when ballast water treatment systems are in operation.
