Published on 27 November 2007. Efthimios E Mitropoulos, Secretary-General, International Maritime Organization.

Climate change and global warming pose a great threat to our environment. In a world dependent on motorised transport systems that emit large quantities of greenhouse gases, significant reductions in shipping emissions will help to reduce shipping’s burden on global warming. A number of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are now being considered by the International Maritime Organization within the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. For measures to be effective, all those in the maritime industry must ensure they are implemented widely, working towards a global regulatory framework for shipping.

Of all the threats to our environment, the most significant concerns atmospheric pollution and the associated phenomena of climate change and global warming and, on this issue, the time for doubt has passed. Whether we like it or not, the modern world is utterly dependent on air, road and shipping transport systems that run largely on fossil fuels and emit greenhouse gases, principally CO2 which is a significant contributory factor towards global warming and climate change.