The Republic of Korea and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) have signed an agreement to establish a training programme to support developing States to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from shipping. This will facilitate the implementation of candidate measures to be adopted by IMO and the development of national action plans to reduce GHG emissions from the shipping and ports sectors.
The Sustainable Maritime Transport Training Programme (GHG-SMART) will focus on Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). It will help them to develop their capacity to achieve the goals set out in the Initial IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships. The IMO strategy envisages reducing total annual GHG emissions from ships by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008, meaning a reduction in carbon intensity for individual ships and a move to new technologies and low/zero carbon fuels. A number of specific measures are under consideration to achieve the ambitious targets.
The strategy recognizes that there are potential barriers to achieving the targets and highlights the need for supportive measures, including capacity building, technical cooperation, technology transfer and research and development (R&D), particularly in developing countries…
