IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee progresses work on GHG reduction; approves Mediterranean Sea emission control area.
The MEPC agreed to designate the entire Mediterranean Sea as an emission control area.
Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) - 78th session, 6-10 June 2022
IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee has reiterated its commitment to review and strengthen the IMO Initial Strategy on the reduction of GHG emissions from shipping, with a view to adopting a revised strategy in mid-2023.
The MEPC 78 session (6-10 June) made further progress with the discussions towards the revision of the Initial GHG Strategy, as initiated during the last session (MEPC 77). The revision will take into account the commitment to strengthen the levels of ambition of the Initial Strategy and the needs of developing States, in particular small island developing States (SIDS) and least developed countries (LDCs).
Further work will continue in an intersessional GHG working group (ISWG-GHG 13) before the next session (MEPC 79, 12-16 December 2022) and further sessions of the working group, including two meetings of intersessional GHG working group are planned prior to MEPC 80 in order to keep up the momentum.
Developing a basket of mid-term GHG reduction measures
The MEPC noted the progress made by the Intersessional Working Group on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships (ISWG-GHG 12) in advancing towards the further development of a "basket of candidate mid-term measures" - integrating various technical elements (for example, a GHG fuel standard and/or enhancement of IMO's carbon intensity measures) and carbon pricing elements (for example, a market-based measure).
