Future of shipping on the agenda in Malta
IMO says its Secretary-General Kitack Lim joined Ministers responsible for shipping from various EU States and other countries to discuss the future of shipping, at a conference in Valletta, Malta (28 March).
Speaking at the High Level Ministerial Stakeholder Conference on Maritime Affairs, Mr. Lim highlighted IMO’s key role as the global regulator for international shipping. He emphasized the importance of the industry for future sustainable development around the world, and that the key to this will be the roadmap, agreed at IMO’s MEPC 70meeting last October, to consider and develop a comprehensive IMO Strategy for the reduction of GHG emissions from ships.
Mr. Lim welcomed the support for a global approach, through IMO, to regulating international shipping contained in the Valetta Declaration, adopted by ministers during the meeting. The Declaration identifies three key themes: competitiveness, digitalisation, and decarbonisation and reduction of air emissions.
The event took place under Malta’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and attendees included European Commissioner Violeta Bulc – responsible for maritime transport.
Following Tuesday’s meeting, Secretary-General Lim also took the opportunity to address future leaders of the maritime world – students at the IMO International Maritime Law Institute in Malta (IMLI) (29 March), in which he hailed the Institute’s record of providing a steady influx of highly trained legal professionals. They have been, and will continue to be, instrumental in enacting appropriate domestic legislation in countries around the world in order to implement and enforce IMO treaties that govern almost every facet of the shipping industry – from the drawing board to the scrapyard.
