Global shipping firms tasked to curb air and water pollution

ANEW strategy will set global shipping on an ambitious path towards phasing out greenhouse gas emissions, top UN officials said at the opening of the latest session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) in London last week.

“Humanity is in dangerous waters on climate,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a video message at the start of MPEC’s latest session.

“Science tells us it is still possible to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 °C, but it requires an immense and immediate global effort, and shipping, which accounts for almost three per cent of global emissions, will be vital.”

The decisions “you take over the coming days could help us chart a safer course,” he said, urging committee members to agree on a strategy forward.

Tasked with addressing environmental issues under the scope of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the committee tackles concerns such as the control and prevention of ship-source pollution covered by the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), including oil, chemicals carried in bulk, sewage, garbage and such emissions from ships as air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.

The committee last week adopted a greenhouse gas emissions strategy in response to climate change and threats to biodiversity, following meetings with IMO.

“This is a historic moment in which all of you have a role to play,” IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim said, encouraging states to help roll out the new strategy by forging ambitious targets that will put shipping on a “clear trajectory” to phase out greenhouse gas emissions.

“The 2023 strategy will be your legacy, for which your children and grandchildren will be grateful,” he said. “The time for IMO to demonstrate its global leadership is now.”

The revised strategy is expected to set out the way forward for possible technical and economic measures to be further developed by IMO.

Underlining the importance of concrete legal measures to project biodiversity, he recalled that nearly two decades of discussion had led to the landmark Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), adopted at the UN headquarters on June 19, 2023.

Together, with the KunmingMontreal Global Framework for Biodiversity, adopted last December and ongoing negotiations for a new legally binding instrument to tackle plastic pollution, he said “there is no doubt that your Committee’s efforts to ensure a greener, more equitable and more sustainable maritime future is of greater importance than ever before.” UN News

PNVF to bid for 2025

Women’s World Championship

THE Philippines has officially submitted its bid to the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) to host the 2025 women’s indoor world championships, Philippines National Volleyball Federation president Ramon “Tats” Suzara announced on Sunday.

“The PNVF would like to officially announce that we have submitted a bid to host the women’s world championship in 2025,” Suzara told a press conference during a break in the Volleyball Nations League Week 3 men’s tournament on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The FIVB invited Poland to discuss on the bid process for the world championship during the VNL finals in Gdansk, Poland, next week.

“We’ll be able to get a clearer picture of our intention to bid, and win, in that meeting,” said Suzara, who added that Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Vietnam are also interested as hosts.

Hosting the women’s worlds, according to Suzara, would mean that the country would be privileged to field its national team in the biennial championship whose participation has been increased by eight countries to 32 teams in 2025.

“If we are hosts, that means we’ll be in the women’s world championship for the first time since 1974, the last time we had a team in the prestigious tournament in Mexico,” he said.

Suzara said he intends to apply the same formula of co-hosting that’s been granted the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas in hosting the FIBA 2023 World Cup in August.