IMO wants to lead global effort to curtail ship emissions

IMO wants to lead global effort to curtail ship emissions    The International Maritime Organization's secretary general said Monday that when transport emissions are discussed at the Copenhagen conference of parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change next month his organization should be entrusted with the regulation of shipping.
   Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, IMO's secretary general, cited the industry’s international character, the fact that most ships are registered in developing countries, and the organization's 'excellent track record on environmental issues.”
   Mitropoulos told delegates that the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee had made progress on a package of technical and operational measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping and parallel consideration of market-based instruments that are to be refined in the coming year.
   “I am confident that, through a combination of carefully crafted measures and instruments, shipping can enhance its energy efficiency and reduce its carbon footprint to the benefit of the environment,” he said.
   Speaking at the 26th IMO Assembly, which runs through Dec. 4, Mitropoulos also called for the maritime industry to “re-double our efforts to combat piracy in all its forms, bearing in mind that it is not a cause, but a symptom.”