The IMO, Global Environment Facility (GEF) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have signed an agreement to allocate US $ 2.0 million to a two-year Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnerships Project (GloMEEP), which aims to support increased uptake and implementation of energy-efficiency measures for shipping.
The GloMEEP project, formally designated “Transforming the Global Maritime Transport Industry towards a Low Carbon Future through Improved Energy Efficiency”, will focus in particular on building capacity to implement technical and operational measures in developing countries, where shipping is increasingly concentrated. The aim is to promote a low-carbon maritime sector.
Public-Private Sector Partnership
A particularly interesting aspect of the project is its expected role in catalysing an innovative public-private sector partnership within the project framework, through a new Global Industry Alliance (GIA) for maritime energy efficiency.
The IMO will execute this GEF-funded GloMEEP project in partnership with UNDP. Ten IMO Member States have signed up as lead pilot countries: Argentina, China, Georgia, India, Jamaica, Malaysia, Morocco, Panama, Philippines and South Africa. These countries will be supported in taking a fast-track approach to pursuing relevant legal, policy and institutional reforms, driving national and regional government action and industry innovation to support the effective implementation of IMO’s energy efficiency requirements.
Besides the GEF financing for GloMEEP, other funds will be mobilised in the form of in-kind and financial donations, to a projected total of some US$ 13.8 million.
EEDI and SEEMP
Mandatory technical and operational energy-efficiency measures were adopted by Parties to Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (Marpol) in July 2011 and they entered into force on 1 January 2013. These regulations make mandatory the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) for certain types of new ships, and the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) for all ships.
Since then, further work has been undertaken to extend the scope of application of the EEDI to include several additional ship types, to further develop guidelines to support uniform implementation, and to promote technology transfer.
Ship Emissions to Increase
IMO’s third study on greenhouse gas emissions from ships (2014) estimates that international shipping emitted 796 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) in 2012, down from 885 million tonnes in 2007. This represented 2.2% of the global emissions of CO2 in 2012, down from 2.8% in 2007. However, the study’s “business as usual” scenarios forecast a growth in CO2 emissions for international maritime transport of between 50% to 250% in the period to 2050, depending on future economic and energy developments.
