News / 'Bitter-sweet' MEPC 83 follows COP 29, narrowing scope of climate commitments

© Pachara Inthawong

IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) 83 meeting, meant to establish robust mid-term decarbonisation measures, ended with a disappointing conclusion, leaving shipping line customers, not regulations, to be the driving force for cleaner shipping.

After a vote, IMO’s first in over a decade, a watered-down version of a fuel standard for ships and a global pricing mechanism for emissions was adopted.

The agreement comprises a fuel standard, a measure which determines the well-to-wake CO2 impact of fuel used, and a pricing and ...