IMO technology centres receive crucial funding

The four-year project, which can proceed as a result of the funding, aims to provide technical assistance and capacity building for beneficiary countries to limit and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from shipping. The MTCCs will be hosted by existing ‘credible institutions’ in the respective regions, to be decided through an open tender.

With strong regional involvement building on the seed funding, the IMO hopes that the MTCCs will become centres of excellence for promoting the uptake of low-carbon technologies and operations in maritime transport. The five regions were chosen due to their large number of least developed countries and small island developing states.

The project, will be coordinated by IMO’s Marine Environment Division through a dedicated unit at IMO headquarters, is part of the Commission’s broader climate financing portfolio aimed at helping less developed countries take climate actions in specific fields or sectors such as the shipping sector.

The agreement to fund the project was signed on 31 December 2015 by Stefan Micallef, director of IMO’s Marine Environment Division, and Peter Craig McQuaid, head of the Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Unit of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development.

Speaking at the signing, Micallef said: “We welcome the EC contribution to this project which will form a cornerstone of continuing efforts by the Organization to ensure effective implementation and enforcement of the energy-efficiency regulations worldwide. The activities undertaken by the MTCCs should provide an important focus for the promotion of technical co-operation, capacity building and technology transfer relating to the improvement of ships’ energy efficiency.”

As reported, the project was first mooted at a joint Singapore-IMO conference held in September last year.