National Action Plans

The Initial IMO Strategy on reduction of GHG emissions from ships includes, inter alia, a candidate short-term measure to encourage the development and update of national action plans to develop policies and strategies to address GHG emissions from international shipping in accordance with guidelines to be developed by the Organization, taking into account the need to avoid regional or unilateral measures.

It is widely recognized that national action plans may facilitate the implementation of IMO instruments in the national context and support the achievement of international commitments through complementary national action.

Thus, many Member States are already taking actions at national level to facilitate the reduction of GHG emissions from ships. On 20 November 2020, MEPC 75 adopted a Resolution to encourage Member States to develop and submit voluntary National Action Plans to address GHG emissions from ships, which was revised by MEPC 79 to include references to shipping routes to support decarbonization (Resolution 367(79)). The Resolution suggests that National Action Plans could include (not limited to):

1. improving domestic institutional and legislative arrangements for the effective implementation of existing IMO instruments;
2. developing activities to further enhance the energy efficiency of ships;
3. initiating research and advancing the uptake of alternative low-carbon and zero-carbon fuels;
4. encouraging the production and distribution of such fuels for shipping
5. accelerating port emission reduction activities, consistent with resolution MEPC.323(74);
6. fostering capacity-building, awareness-raising and regional cooperation; and
7. facilitating the development of infrastructure for green shipping.
8. facilitating voluntary cooperation through the whole value chain

Submitted National Action Plans (NAPs)

Relevant national action plans and strategies submitted to the Secretariat are available for download below:

Complementary Resources

The IMO-Norway GreenVoyage2050 Project has published a Guide on the development of National Action Plans (NAPs) to address GHG emissions from ships. The guide provides information on the crucial planning, development and implementation phases involved in the creation of a NAP. With a step-by-step approach, the guide invites policymakers to consider key questions for developing appropriate actions to address maritime GHG emissions, with additional recommendations for Small Islands Developing States (SIDS).

As a result of the NextGEN-GreenVoyage2050 workshop, held in Singapore on 5 to 6 October 2023, organized to raise awareness on actions to reduce GHG emissions from ships and foster cooperation along shipping routes with stakeholders across the whole value chain to aggregate demand and support energy transition, a report on a routes-based action plan methodology that is designed to kickstart the uptake of clean maritime fuels was published to assist first movers to deploy clean fuels in specific locations e.g. along a route/s or in a cluster.

Prior to the adoption of Resolution MEPC.327(75) on NAPs, the GEF-UNDP-IMO GloMEEP project published as part of its Ship Emissions Toolkit a Guide No.3: Development of a national ship emissions reduction strategy, aimed at supporting countries in developing a national ship emissions reduction strategy that can guide potential policy and investment options.

It should be noted that IMO, through its Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP), supports Member States in the formulation and development of National Maritime Transport Policies (NMTPs), thus strengthening the maritime capacities and contributing to the achievement of the UNSustainable Development Goals (SDGs).