IMO Releases Ship and Port Emission Toolkits

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has issued a new set of free-of-charge toolkits to assess and address emissions from ships and ports. 

As explained, the toolkits would help support countries seeking to develop and strengthen national policy and regulatory frameworks related to the prevention of air pollution and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships.

The Ship Emissions Toolkit and Port Emissions Toolkit have been developed under the GEF-UNDP-IMO Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnerships (GloMEEP) Project, in collaboration with its strategic partners, the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) and the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH).

“Both the ship and port emission toolkits provide practical guidance on assessing emissions so that a national emission reduction strategy for the maritime sector can be developed. The GloMEEP guides provide a wealth of information on assessment techniques and how to develop a national strategy, as well as links to further practical guidance,” Astrid Dispert, GloMEEP Technical Adviser, said.

Both toolkits — available free to download from the GloMEEP website — have been developed through extensive testing and feedback from practical use of the toolkit guides during national and regional training activities held in the 10 lead pilot countries participating in the GloMEEP project.

“Ports and shipping are intrinsically linked – as such, efforts to reduce maritime emissions need to extend beyond seagoing ships alone. IMO’s MARPOL Annex VI regulations on air pollution and energy efficiency are aimed at ships, but it is clear that for port emissions to be reduced, national authorities need to consider emissions from all sources, including cargo handling equipment, trucks – as well as domestic vessels. By utilising these guides, countries can develop national strategies which will address emissions from their maritime sector as a whole – protecting public health and the environment and contributing to the fight against climate change,” Dispert added. 

Such strategies would include incorporating IMO regulations into national legislation. Annex VI of IMO’s International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from ships (MARPOL) includes regulations to limit air pollution from ships as well as energy efficiency regulations to cut greenhouse gas emissions from ships.

In April 2018, IMO adopted its initial IMO strategy on reduction of GHG emissions from ships, which sets out a vision to reduce GHG emissions from international shipping and phase them out, as soon as possible in this century. The initial strategy recognizes the important role of ports as well as shipping in achieving the ambitious targets.

The Ship Emissions Toolkit provides a structured framework, as well as decision support tools for evaluating emissions reduction opportunities in maritime transport. It offers guidance to countries seeking to develop and strengthen national policy and regulatory frameworks related to the prevention of air pollution and the reduction of GHG emissions from ships.

It not only considers emissions from international shipping but also encourages the user to assess emissions from and identify emissions reduction opportunities for the domestic fleet. The toolkit also recognizes that ships and ports are intrinsically connected and as such also provides links to the Port Emissions Toolkit.

As more attention is focused on reducing emissions from the entire marine shipping sector, ports are driven to understand the magnitude of the air emissions impact from their operations on the local and global community and to develop strategies to reduce this impact. Port emissions inventories provide the basic building block to the development of a port emissions reduction strategy.