The Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, Arsenio Dominguez, has told NHK that he hopes its members will agree in April 2025 on new rules to help promote efforts toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in shipping.
The IMO is a specialized UN agency, responsible for the safety and security of shipping, and the prevention of marine and atmospheric pollution by ships.
Last year the organization adopted a strategy to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in shipping by around 2050.
Its committee is now debating the introduction of a standard for regulating the use of oil, and other types of fuel responsible for higher greenhouse gas emissions, as well as a new rule to impose charges for emissions according to their magnitude. Alternative fuels, such as those using hydrogen and ammonia, are considered crucial for future shipping.
Dominguez said the committee is working to reach an agreement over a regulation that is applicable to all the IMO’s 176 member states. He said he hopes the deal would be struck at the next committee session scheduled for next April.
Dominguez described Japan as a big ship-building and ship-owning nation that knows how to provide technology for this process.
He said he would like to see how Japan can contribute more toward decarbonization.