The World Maritime University welcomes and supports the International Maritime Organization’s climate change strategy for shipping that was announced on 13 April 2018. IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), during its 72nd session at IMO Headquarters in London, adopted the Initial IMO strategy on the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships and aims to eradicate them by the end of this century.
“I wish to congratulate the IMO and its member States on this important and necessary response to the threat of climate change in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The fact that more than 100 member States agreed on the significance of action in reducing GHG from international shipping speaks more than words. WMU has an important role to play through education, research and capacity building, in achieving IMO’s vision for a GHG-free shipping industry,” stated WMU President Doumbia-Henry on the occasion of the adoption of the Initial GHG Strategy.
Climate change affects all aspects of human life and rising sea levels, erosion, sedimentation patterns and a multitude of factors, including GHG emissions from international shipping, have a negative impact on ports and ship channels. IMO’s Initial GHG Strategy constitutes a framework for member States, setting out the future vision for international shipping, the levels of ambition to reduce GHG emissions and guiding principles; and includes candidate short-, mid- and long-term further measures with possible timelines and their impacts on States. The Initial Strategy also identifies barriers and supportive measures including capacity building, technical cooperation and research and development.
The 2018 IMO Initial GHG Strategy marks a high point in a long-standing effort to adopt mandatory energy-efficiency measures for an entire industry sector. From the beginning, the World Maritime University (WMU) has been a firm supporter of IMO’s efforts to develop a suite of technical and operational requirements for new and existing vessels that entered into force in 2013 with the objective for new ships built in 2025 to be 30% more energy efficient than those built in 2014.
WMU has been at the forefront of maritime energy management education offering a Master of Science specialization on the subject and in January 2017 the University hosted the International Conference on Maritime Energy Management. Further, WMU contributes to comprehensive training courses on Energy Efficient Operation of Ships and the organization of IMO-WMU train-the-trainer workshops on energy efficient operation of ships under the IMO-GEF-UNEP “The Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnerships Project” (GloMEEP Project). In addition, the newly established WMU-Sasakawa Global Institute has a specific interest in undertaking oceans and climate change research and capacity-building as a central strand in its research mission.