ABSTRACT
The long-delayed political history of attempts to regulate international shipping emissions is even more drawn out and unsuccessful than international aviation. It is true that since the 1992 and 1997 mandates for the UN specialized agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), to address international shipping emissions, it has accomplished relatively little of real substance. The first request for the IMO to address international ship emissions in 1992 was emphasized again in 1997, and yet it has not delivered any meaningful results to help mitigate the climate crisis. Between 2009 and 2013, the IMO focused on energy efficiency, as a “so-called” means of reducing CO2 emissions. Finally, in 2011, the IMO reached an agreement that international shipping emissions would be regulated through amendments to Annex VI to MARPOL 73/78. The IMO's Initial Greenhouse Gas Strategy, finally formulated and agreed in 2018, established the goal of reducing absolute Greenhouse Gas emissions by 50 percent from the 2008 level.
