The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) addresses environmental issues under IMO’s remit. This includes the control and prevention of ship-source pollution covered by the MARPOL treaty, including oil, chemicals carried in bulk, sewage, garbage and emissions from ships, including air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions. Other matters covered include ballast water management, anti-fouling systems, ship recycling, pollution preparedness and response, and identification of special areas and particularly sensitive sea areas.

The 82nd session of the Committee took place from 30 September to 4 October 2024 and was chaired by Dr Harry Conway from Liberia. Hendrike Kühl attended virtually on behalf of IUMI. 

 

Tackling climate change
The Committee made progress on the development of mid-term measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions to meet the ambitions set out in the 2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships. The proposed regulations are scheduled for adoption in late 2025, building on previously adopted "short-term measures" for GHG reduction which focus on enhancing energy efficiency of ships. The mid-term measures under discussion include:

• a technical element, i.e., a global marine fuel standard regulating the phased reduction of a marine fuel's GHG intensity;
• an economic element, i.e., a maritime GHG emissions pricing mechanism.

Various proposals on how to put these mid-term GHG reduction measures into practice have been submitted by IMO Member States. These include the establishment of an IMO GHG Intensity Registry and an IMO fund to facilitate the implementation of the technical and economic elements of the GHG reduction measures. Draft texts have been developed and will be further advanced in the Intersessional Working Group on Reduction of Greenhouse Gas prior to the next MEPC meeting in April 2025.

The proposed mid-term measures will impact the world fleet and Member States. To guide decision-making, a comprehensive impact assessment was conducted over the past year, focusing on the potential impacts of the candidate measures. The Committee agreed to further assess the potential impact on food security. MEPC 82 also continued its work on the development of the Life Cycle GHG Assessment (LCA) framework for marine fuels. 

To support evidence-based decision making on addressing GHG emissions from international shipping, IMO regularly commissions studies to estimate emissions from the sector and project possible developments. The IMO Secretariat submitted a preliminary analysis for the Fifth IMO GHG Study, including proposed timelines and associated logistical and administrative arrangements.

 

Energy efficiency of ships

Since 2019, ships of 5,000 gross tonnes (GT) and above (which produce approximately 85% of the total CO2 emissions from international shipping) are required to collect consumption data for each type of fuel oil they use. This data helps to inform the development of measures to reduce GHG emissions from ships, including calculating ships' operational carbon intensity (CII).

In 2023, data was reported by 28,620 ships with a combined gross tonnage of 1,301 million GT and by 105 Administrations out of a possible 135. The data showed that total fuel used by these ships was slightly less in 2023 (211 million tonnes) compared to 2022 (213 million tonnes).  In addition, 93.52% of the fuel used in 2023 was either Heavy Fuel Oil, Light Fuel Oil or Diesel/Gas Oil (compared to 94.65% for 2022). Fuels that are not in those categories represent 6.48% of the fuel used in 2023 (compared to 5.35% in 2022). For the 2023 reporting period, CII ratings were reported by 24,653 out of the 28,620 reporting ships (86.1%).

The summary of the fuel oil consumption data submitted to the IMO data collection system (DCS) for 2023 was approved by MEPC 82 and the Committee noted ongoing improvements to the reporting process in the IMO DCS.

Table 1 summarizes the reported operational CII ratings:

The Committee continued its work to review the 'short-term measures' currently in force to reduce GHG emissions from ships by enhancing the energy efficiency of the global fleet. These regulations, in effect since 1 January 2023, require ships to measure their energy efficiency by calculating their attained Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI), and to continuously improve their annual operational carbon intensity indicator (CII) as defined in their CII rating. The Committee analysed data submitted by Member States from their experience with the implementation of the regulation.

Several challenges and gaps were identified in various submissions ranging from CII impact on individual ship assessments of operational energy efficiency performance, potential penalisation of ships on short voyages, idle time and port waiting time, to the lack of incentivisation for port call efficiency and just-in-time (JIT) arrival of ships. The Committee endorsed a way forward to address these challenges and gaps.

 

Marine litter

The Committee approved the Guidelines on good practice relating to clean-up of plastic pellets from ship-source releases. This provides practical guidance for government authorities on issues such as contingency planning, response, post-spill monitoring and analysis, and intervention and cost recovery.

The Committee instructed the Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response to review the Action Plan to Address Marine Plastic Litter from Ships, thereby assessing the effectiveness of the actions compared to the intended outcomes.

Discussions on the development of mandatory regulations to address plastic pellets released from ships continued during MEPC 82. These would build on the non-mandatory Recommendations for the carriage of plastic pellets by sea in freight containers approved by MEPC 81, and the Guidelines on good practice relating to clean-up of plastic pellets from ship-source releases approved by MEPC 82.

The Committee instructed PPR 12 to develop text for a specific action (for inclusion in the Action Plan) on the development of mandatory measures to reduce the environmental risks of plastic pellets transported by sea in freight containers.

 

Ship recycling

The Hong Kong Convention aims to ensure that ships, when being recycled after reaching the end of their operational lives, do not pose risks to human health, safety and to the environment. The Basel Convention aims to protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects of hazardous wastes, including among others, waste from ship dismantling.

In view of the forthcoming entry into force of the Hong Kong Convention in June 2025 and the urgent need to provide guidance on the interplay between the two Conventions, the Committee approved the provisional guidance on the implementation of the Hong Kong and Basel Conventions with respect to the transboundary movement of ships intended for recycling. The Committee noted that additional work was required to improve the guidance in order to provide further legal clarity and certainty, in cooperation with the Secretariat of the Basel Convention.