Nearly 300 delegates from member-states of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and inter-governmental organisations are meeting this week at the IMO Headquarters in London for the first meeting of the Intersessional Working Group on the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from Ships.

The group, which is meeting in a closed session, will provide a report to next week’s session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 71). The working group report will form the basis for further deliberation in relation to the elements set out in the roadmap for developing a comprehensive IMO strategy on reduction of GHG emissions from ships, which was agreed at MEPC 70.

An initial IMO GHG strategy is set to be adopted at MEPC 72 in spring 2018, including, inter alia, a list of candidate short-, mid- and long-term further measures with possible timelines.

Also this week, a new Global Industry Alliance to support Low Carbon Shipping will be launched today, June 29, under the auspices of the Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnerships (GloMEEP) project, the Global Environment Facility (GEF)-United Nations Development Program (UNDP)-IMO project, aimed at supporting the implementation of energy efficiency measures for shipping, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions from shipping.