Georgia Holds First GloMEEP National Workshop of the Energy Efficiency Project for Shipping

Attendees at Georgia's national GloMEEP workshop are said to have focused on raising awareness of energy-efficiency regulations of MARPOL's chapter 4.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) Wednesday announced that the Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnerships (GloMEEP), a joint project of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and IMO, had the first national workshop held under the project in Batumi, Georgia from December 15 to 17.

The national workshop is said to have focused on raising awareness of energy-efficiency regulations of chapter 4 in Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL).

The GloMEEP project, which was formally designated "Transforming the Global Maritime Transport Industry towards a Low Carbon Future through Improved Energy Efficiency," is said to focus on building capacity to implement technical and operational measures in developing countries, "where shipping is increasingly concentrated."

The IMO says the two-year project "marks the beginning of a new blueprint for creating global, regional and national partnerships to build the capacity to address maritime energy efficiency and for countries to bring this issue into the mainstream within their own development policies, programmes and dialogues."

Lead pilot countries for the project are said to include Argentina, China, Georgia, India, Jamaica, Malaysia, Morocco, Panama, Philippines, and South Africa.

The GloMEEP Project is also said to be working to develop a public-private partnership for low-carbon shipping under a Global Industry Alliance (GIA).

Earlier this month, the IMO welcomed the climate deal reached at the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) talks in Paris, saying it is now "full speed ahead with climate-change measures."