IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos said: 'I have viewed the end result of the Copenhagen Conference with mixed feelings: with concern that the target initially pursued, following the 2007 Bali Conference, of a legally binding instrument, was not achieved; with measured satisfaction that, through the Accord tabled at the end of the deliberations, a step in the right direction was taken enabling progress to be made towards a legally binding instrument; and with hope that, following new rounds of consultations to be held post-Copenhagen, the required consensus on action needed to be taken to save the planet will be reached at the next Conference ' possibly in Mexico one year from now.”
Despite the outcome of COP 15, he said “the international maritime community stands ready to build on the momentum created in Copenhagen by contributing further to the attainment of the objectives set through the 2005 IMO Action Plan, namely the putting in place of a comprehensive regulatory regime aimed at limiting or reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ships.
“We can, therefore, move forward now, through our Marine Environment Protection Committee, to complete that action plan and to enact the standards, measures and mechanisms required to that effect,” he said.
That committee is slated to meet in March and Mitropoulos said the IMO will study whether there are any repercussions from the COP 15 meeting on shipping.
