On 21 April 2011 IMO and the Korea International Co-operation Agency (KOICA) signed a Co-operation Agreement for implementation of a technical co-operation project on Building Capacities in East Asian countries to address Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) from Ships.
The co-operation between KOICA and IMO through this project is part of a much broader climate change initiative by the Republic of Korea titled the “East Asia Climate Partnerships” which aims to support the Republic of Korea’s efforts to take a lead in reducing carbon emissions and to move toward a low-carbon society, thereby setting a milestone for green growth and in this process to assist the developing countries in the region.
Funds made available by KOICA under the Agreement, are used to support
12 activities being implemented by IMO over a two-year period. The selected activities will focus on enhancing the capacities of developing countries in East Asia to develop and implement, at the national level, appropriate action on CO2 emissions from shipping, whilst at the same time, promoting sustainable development.
The issue of reducing GHG emissions from ships represents a major concern for IMO Member States and reflects a global consensus on a key issue which affects both developing and developed countries. Giving priority to technical assistance programmes that focus on human resources development and institutional capacity building to help developing countries improve their ability to comply with international rules and standards to address
GHG emissions from ships, can make a significant contribution to limiting or reducing GHG emissions from international shipping. IMO is, therefore, working proactively in building human resource capacity to address
GHG emission from ships.
In this context, IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), at its 61st session, underlined the importance of building human resource capacity to address GHG emissions from ships; this has also been recently highlighted at MEPC 62 with adoption of mandatory GHG reduction measures for all ships. Therefore, the KOICA-IMO Project on GHG, which is first of its kind for IMO, is an immediate response to this urgent need identified by the Committee.
Some ongoing IMO technical cooperation activities on GHG emissions include the development of an IMO Model Course based on the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan in promoting energy-efficient operation of ships which will help promulgate the industry’s "best practices", to reduce
GHG emissions from international shipping.
IMO is currently in discussion with a number of donor countries and partner organizations with a view to mobilize additional resources for supporting its technical assistance activities in this area.