Shipping's GHG Emissions Back in the Public Eye as IMO Discusses Reduction Efforts

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Wednesday March 22, 2017

Shipping's implied mandate to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions was back in the public eye this week, with Lee Adamson, Head of Media and Communications at the International Maritime Organization (IMO), discussing the matter in a new interview with CNN.

In the interview, Adamson highlighted a number of IMO measures for reducing shipping's emissions, including the adoption of a mandatory data collection system for vessel fuel consumption, the 0.50 percent sulfur cap for bunkers set for 2020, as well as efforts toward design solutions for reducing ships' carbon footprint.

Further, Adamson stressed that shipping must play a significant role in any viable global strategy for sustainable development.

While news of such IMO efforts will not come as new information to regular Ship & Bunker readers, the interview itself highlights that public attention on the role and responsibility of IMO to address shipping's emissions is coming increasingly into the public eye.

Indeed, several industry players and experts have previously stressed that pressure is currently on shipping industry regulators to develop policies to address the sector's carbon footprint.

As a case in point, Olaf Merk, Administrator for Ports and Shipping at International Transport Forum (ITF), speaking at the forum's summit last year, said: "the IMO and shipping nations really have to show something considerable this year. If not, I think they will be held up to ridicule by a lot of these environmental NGOs and maybe the population at large."