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Norway and IMO Launch GHG Reductions Project

Credit: IMO

Published May 14, 2019 8:23 PM by The Maritime Executive

An international project has been launched to support the IMO's initial strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from shipping.

GreenVoyage-2050 is a collaboration between IMO and the Government of Norway to demonstrate and test technical solutions for reducing GHG emissions in shipping, and it will run for an initial two-year period. More than 50 countries in 14 sub-regions across the globe are expected to participate, including developed countries and the private sector.

The project will also build capacity in developing countries, including small island developing states and least developed countries, to fulfil their commitments to meet climate-change and energy-efficiency goals for international shipping.

Partnerships with existing programs (such as Norway's Green Shipping Program) will be explored, with a view to drawing on their results to encourage the phasing in of zero and low-emission solutions for shipping in developing countries.

Initially, eight countries, from five high-priority regions (Asia, Africa, Caribbean, Latin America and Pacific), are expected to take pilot roles at a national level. They will then support other countries in taking action.

The Government of Norway has provided NOK 10,000,000 ($1.1 million) for the initial two years of the project and intends to fund the project further into the future.

IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim said the project was a direct response to the need to provide technical assistance to States and to support technology transfer and promote green technology uptake to improve energy efficiency and reduce GHG emissions throughout the maritime sector. 

Lim said, "Another of this project's most important aims is to spur global efforts to enhance global knowledge management and information sharing for climate action and sustainable oceans. In this time of greater connectivity and more rapid technological advances than ever before, I cannot stress enough how timely the launch of this project is".

The project will support delivery at least two of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDG 13 on climate change and SDG 14 on sustainable use of the oceans. 

GreenVoyage-2050 will embrace experience from other successful environmental projects delivered by the IMO. In particular, GloMEEP, the GEF-UNDP-IMO Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnerships Project, which has itself established a successful public-private partnership, namely the Global Industry Alliance To Support Low Carbon Shipping, and the European Union-funded GMN project, which has established five Maritime Technology Cooperation Centres in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific.

The new project was launched on the first day of the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), 74th session (May 13-17). Among other agenda items, MEPC 74 will continue its work on reducing GHG emissions from ships, in line with the initial GHG strategy.