The International Maritime Organization has released online programs that it says will help countries quantify ship- and ports-related air pollution emissions and develop national strategies to reduce them.
The toolkits were tested in 10 pilot countries: Argentina, China, Georgia, India,
Jamaica, Malaysia, Morocco, Panama, the Philippines and South Africa. The kits were developed by the GEF (Global Environmental Facility)-UNDP (U.N. Development Program)-IMO Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnerships (GloMEEP) and are available for free download. The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) and the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) also assisted with developing the toolkits.
“Ports and shipping are intrinsically linked. As such, efforts to reduce maritime emissions need to extend beyond seagoing ships alone,” said Astrid Dispert, GloMEEP technical adviser, in a statement. “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.”
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, IMO adopted its initial IMO strategy on reduction of GHG emissions from ships, which sets out a vision to reduce GHG (greenhouse gas) 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 IMO said the ship emissions toolkit provides a framework to evaluate 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 GHG emissions from ships.
“It may well be the case that domestic shipping represents the largest source of emissions in certain countries and/or becomes the proving ground for low- or zero-carbon technologies that can subsequently be adopted by international shipping,” the organization said.
The IMO said the purpose for its ports emissions toolkit is that ports are linked to the ships and thus contribute a share of emissions through their cargo-handling equipment.
“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,” the IMO said.