From 14 to 17 October, IADC attended the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Extraordinary Session of the Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC). Though not a part of the IMO’s normally scheduled meetings, this special session was called with the objective of adopting draft provisions that would establish the timeline for bringing marine Green House Gas emissions requirements into effect for the world’s commercial shipping fleet.
Most notable of these draft provisions is the implementation of the IMO’s GHG Net-Zero strategy to remain on target with the UN’s Net-Zero 2050 initiative. As particularly lively discussions ensued throughout the week among the attending IMO member delegations, a number of countries lead by the US, Saudi Arabia, and Russia expressed substantial reservations for implementing requirements where details regarding programmatic administration and certain precedent-setting implications had not been satisfactorily addressed.
Consequently, the week’s discussions culminated in the very unusual circumstance where the committee was compelled to conduct a vote for adoption instead of the customary expression of consent by the whole of the session’s attending delegations. The closely contested vote resulted in the committee’s inability to adopt the GHG framework as otherwise planned with the intention of reconsidering the uptake of these draft requirements at a later IMO session to be scheduled in a year’s time. As expressed by dissenting countries at this session, it is expected that stated concerns would be further addressed in time for continued deliberation of this matter at next year’s convening of an IMO MEPC session. IADC will continue to participate in these discussions as they progress to ensure due consideration is provided for the highly specialized nature of offshore operations.
IADC’s History with IMO
Since 1975, IADC has retained its observer delegate status at IMO. One of two upstream oil and gas associations having such access, IADC is prominently recognized and frequently referenced by the global maritime community for its specialization and proficiency in Mobile Offshore Drilling Units (MODUs) concerns. IMO member countries regularly consult with IADC on safety and environmental matters unique to MODUs.
