IMO officials pictured with GMA officials during NAP Workshop in Tema
The Ghana Maritime Authority has organised a workshop to fashion out a National Action Plan for Shipping Decarbonization in Ghana under the Imo-Greenvoyage2050 Programme.
GreenVoyage2050 is a global programme supporting developing countries to reduce emissions from ships, in line with the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy.
The aims of this Action Plan would be to among others guide the country towards reducing GHGs emissions and air pollutants in the maritime sector and also tapping into the opportunities presented by the green transition agenda.
Member States are expected to take an active role in implementing the IMO GHG Strategy, including the development of clear roadmaps to advance the maritime green transition within their respective jurisdictions.
As the primary agency responsible for regulating the maritime industry and preventing maritime pollution, the Ghana Maritime Authority has been actively initiating measures to ensure a just transition for Ghana.
To formally initiate the NAP development process, a national kick-off workshop has been organized by the IMO-GreenVoyage2050 Programme, involving key public and private sector stakeholders to oversee the development of the National Action Plan.
Addressing participants, the Acting Director General of the Ghana Maritime Authority, Dr. Kamal Deen entreated all stakeholders to work assiduously and collectively to achieve the GreenVoyage2050 target.
“This is a national action plan so it cannot and it will not be a Ghana Maritime Authority document. It is a document that require our collective input, our collective deliberation and our collective adoption in general let me highlight that we are just not looking at this strategy from the point of view of regulation but it is equally key in terms of future economic opportunities so when you look at the document you realize that it has a number of thematic pillars and whereas some of the pillars are looking at reduction, other pillars are looking at how do we as a country take advantage of the changing situation. We have to quickly then see how we mobilize ourselves to meet that responsibility globally but also to look at the positive side and how we strategize to take advantage of the economic opportunities that will come along with decarbonization,” he said.
The adoption of the 2023 IMO Strategy on the Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships outlines ambitious targets aimed at achieving net-zero emissions in the industry by 2050.
One of the project leads with the IMO, Astrid Dispert gave more insight into the development of the IMO Net-Zero framework.
She said, “I often hear that it doesn’t sound that much substantial that shipping’s contribution is 3% of the whole global emissions but if you look at the projections a lot of countries are developing more and more so there’s an increased trade. The numbers of international trade have been increasing over the last decade and are projected to increase so we cannot just sit around and do nothing.”