In view of the next meeting of the Committee on the Protection of of the marine environment of the International Maritime Organization which will be held from 27 April to 1 May in London, which will take place will mainly deal with the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases produced by ships, the BIMCO shipowners' associations, Cruise Lines International Association, International Chamber of Shipping, Intercargo, Interferry, Intertanko and World Shipping Council have reiterated their support for the IMO as a body global regulator for the implementation of the reduction pathway GHG emissions from the maritime sector.

Last October, at its last meeting, the Marine Environment Protection Committee of the IMO, had decided to send of one year of the vote on the strategy for the decarbonisation of the maritime transport with the expected adoption of the new IMO regulations on greenhouse gas emissions ( of 17 October 2025) and today the seven shipowners' associations have underlined the crucial importance that IMO Member States agree on a strategy to follow. BIMCO, CLIA, ICS, Intercargo, Interferry, Intertanko and WSC reiterated that The maritime industry continues to be united in its commitment to the value and effectiveness of the IMO as a Global Regulatory Body for Maritime Transport and continues to pursue the objective set out in the 2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships having invested in and allocated billions of dollars for experimentation and the implementation of the use of alternative fuels and technologies innovative.

In particular, the associations reiterated their support practical and effective solutions defined by the IMO that can consistent global application, thus avoiding diversified regional and national decarbonisation programmes or overlapping situations that could lead to the imposition of penalties to ships for the same greenhouse gas emissions, with distortions of competition and less effective policies climatic conditions.

In addition, the associations highlighted that the important work already underway on related issues developed at the IMO, such as the life cycle assessment of fuels and certification schemes, must provide the technical basis and necessary to assess the adoption of any measure. According to the associations, progress must be duly taken into account of which aspects need to be transposed by regulation and which may be reserved for IMO guidelines.

BIMCO, CLIA, ICS, Intercargo, Interferry, Intertanko and WSC reiterated, and that the IMO requirements should provide certainty global legislation that the maritime industry urgently needs, and should send sufficient signals to energy producers to accelerate the production and supply of fuels useful for the decarbonization of shipping.