The UN Climate Change Conference COP26 had triggered great hopes, but expectations for the 77th session of IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) again were not matched. This is how CIMAC, the global large engine industry association, comments in a recently published press release on the outcome of the MEPC November meeting where important steps for the maritime sector to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions were postponed again.

“The IMO, as the organization responsible for regulating shipping, must deliver a more ambitious and above all, a faster and clearly defined roadmap until 2050 to reduce and ultimately fully decarbonize the maritime industry. We had already hoped for more concrete steps at MEPC75; while the need to revise the GHG emissions reduction strategy was acknowledged, with a targeted adoption of a more earnest IMO GHG emissions strategy at MEPC80 in spring 2023.”, explains Dirk Bergmann, the Chairman of CIMAC’s Greenhouse Gas Strategy Group. “Nonetheless, revised guidelines for exhaust gas cleaning systems and a resolution urging the use of distillates and other cleaner fuels and technologies to reduce black carbon emissions in the Arctic were adopted“, he continues.

"While the long-term ambition is clear, without the right framework from the relevant regulator, key investments will be reconsidered, put on hold or even cancelled. If the IMO maintains its current course and defers clear action on greenhouse gas emissions, other players might step up and take the lead”, says Peter Müller-Baum, CIMAC Secretary General, who believes that the determination to change is there, but the pace needs to pick up. The IMO member states postponed any proposals for medium-term measures until the ISWG GHG 12 meeting in 2022.

CIMAC will continue to closely follow the discussions around IMO, MEPC, and GHG preventions and comment as needed. As an international platform which includes major shipping companies CIMAC is willing to discuss these challenges informally to develop appropriate solutions. The topic will also have a high priority during the upcoming CIMAC Congress in Busan in 2022.