New global mandatory requirements for ships to mitigate climate change

The Marine Environment Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organisation at its 69th session held last week in London approved new global mandatory requirements for ships to record and report fuel consumption. The agreement was reached on Friday when World Earth Day was being celebrated and the day the Paris agreement on climate change was being signed by world leaders in New York, including Malta’s Prime Minister.

Transport Malta, as the regulator of maritime affairs in Malta welcomed the new data collection requirements hailed internationally as a significant contribution to the ongoing work by the international community to mitigate climate change.  This was also welcomed by the Malta International Shipowners Association and the international shipping community.

IMO member States also agreed to continue at the next MEPC session in November with their work to further address greenhouse gas emissions from ships. The mandatory data collection system is intended to be the first in a three-step process in which analysis of the data collected would provide the basis for an objective, transparent and inclusive policy debate on climate change mitigation from shipping.

Malta, as befitting a leading maritime nation, is an active participant in the work of IMO and actively took part in a wide ranging discussion leading to the approval of a new mandatory data collection system. Malta was represented at the IMO meeting by senior officials of the Merchant Shipping Directorate within Transport Malta together with the Permanent Representation of Malta to IMO and support from industry.

The new agreement is yet another clear and positive signal about the firm commitment of the shipping industry to climate change mitigation. To date, IMO is the only Organization to have adopted energy-efficiency measures that are legally binding across an entire global industry. Mandatory energy efficiency standards for new ships, and mandatory operational measures to reduce emissions from existing ships, entered into force in 2013. Thanks to those new measures, by 2025 all new ships built will be 30% more energy efficient than those built in 2013. 

IMO Secretary General Kitack Lim welcomed the approval of the amendments and said “The work in the MEPC this week shows IMO’s strong commitment, as the global regulator of the shipping industry, to continue its work to address GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions from ships engaged in international trade. IMO has a major role to play in ensuring that the positive momentum towards climate change mitigation is translated into tangible and lasting improvements in people’s lives."

Transport Malta reaffirmed its firm commitment to continue working together with its international and European partners, through the IMO, to further enhance the energy efficiency of the international shipping sector through a harmonized global regime. Transport Malta welcomed the support of the Malta International Shipowners Association in this direction.