IMO Releases Ship and Port Emissions Toolkits

A new set of free-of-charge toolkits to assess and address emissions from ships and ports is now available from the IMO.

The guides are designed to help countries seeking to develop and strengthen national policy and regulatory frameworks related to the prevention of air pollution and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships. They provide practical guidance on assessing emissions, so that a national emission reduction strategy for the maritime sector can be developed.

The Toolkits have been developed under the GEF-UNDP-IMO Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnerships (GloMEEP) Project, in collaboration with its strategic partners, the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) and the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH).

Both toolkits have been developed through extensive testing and feedback from practical use of the toolkit guides during national and regional training activities held in the 10 lead pilot countries participating in the GloMEEP project.

In April 2018, the IMO adopted its initial IMO strategy on reduction of GHG emissions from ships, which sets out a vision to reduce GHG 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.

Port Emissions Toolkit

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. Port emissions inventories provide the basic building block to the development of a port emissions reduction strategy. The Port Emissions Toolkit includes two guides:

Guide No.1: Assessment of port emissions: The guide is intended to serve as a resource guide for ports intending to develop or improve their air pollutant and/or GHG emissions assessments. It incorporates the latest emission inventory methods and approaches. It recognizes that ships do not operate independently from shore-based entities in the maritime transportation system and that port emission considerations must extend beyond the ships themselves to include all port-related emission sources including: seagoing vessels, domestic vessels, cargo handling equipment, heavy-duty vehicles, locomotives, and electrical grid.

Guide No.2: Development of port emissions reduction strategies: The guide is intended to serve as a resource guide for ports intending to develop an emissions reduction strategy for port-related emission sources. It describes the approaches and methods that can be used by ports to develop, evaluate, implement, and track voluntary emission control measures that go beyond regulatory requirements.

Ship Emissions Toolkit

The Ship Emissions Toolkit provides a structured framework and decision support tools for evaluating 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 the reduction of GHG emissions from ships.

The Toolkit not only considers emissions from international shipping but also encourages the user to assess emissions from and identify emissions reduction opportunities for the domestic fleet. It includes three practical guides:

Guide 1 – Rapid assessment of ship emissions in the national context: offers guidance for conducting a rapid assessment and generating both quantitative and qualitative information about a country’s maritime emissions status at the time of analysis.

Guide 2 – Incorporation of MARPOL Annex VI into national law: provides useful information for policy makers and legislators in countries preparing for accession; as well as information for developing the legal framework to implement the regulations in MARPOL Annex VI in the domestic
legislation.

Guide 3 – Development of a national ship emissions reduction strategy: supports countries in developing a national ship emissions reduction strategy that can guide potential policy and investment options.