This publication aims to foster transparency in the maritime sector and analyse relevant developments. It takes the view that the long-term growth prospects for seaborne trade and maritime businesses are positive. There are ample opportunities for developing countries to generate income and employment and help promote foreign trade. 

limate change and impact mitigation is central to the shipping industry. Targets and standards that aim to reduce emissions and mitigate impact will apply either to all ships or to certain ship types or ship activities. The impact of this regulatory agenda on maritime activities is heavily dependent on international conventions and decisions taken at the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Some scholars have pointed to the undue influence of firms on the IMO via ‘corporate capture’. Mainstream scholarship assumes that decisive influence comes from powerful states. This article deploys a polycentric approach to argue that governance outcomes are often a function of the particularities of the negotiating process as opposed to the characteristics and resources of the negotiating parties.

This paper has been prepared to inform Pacific high ambition delegations to IMO negotiations GHG emissions reduction at ISWG11 and MEPC78 in 2022.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has agreed on a process to assess the impact of new GHG emissions reduction measures on member states. The current debate at IMO will determine the Impact Assessment (IA) process in which the measures would be tested against. This paper discusses the issue of IAs required for measures proposed under the IMO’s Initial IMO Strategy on reduction of GHG emissions from ships (Initial Strategy). The Initial Strategy recognises that the impacts on states of a measure should be assessed and taken into account as appropriate before adoption of the measure. Definition and processes for preparing such IAs are unclear and have become somewhat weaponized by different negotiating blocs. One school of thought argues that the IA process should be an evolving one developed in parallel with the implementation of candidate measures while others argue that no measure should be agreed until the comprehensive IA is completed and the impacts fully understood and provided for. The issue is closely connected with the concurrent debate over delineating Disproportionate Negative Impacts (DNI) arising from measures and the type and degree of compensation that might be afforded those adjudged to incur DNI.

This paper also discusses the different types of impact assessments such as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) versus the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA). IMO employs RIA which does not integrate environmental or social impacts into the assessment therefore a critique of this procedure is demonstrated. The paper concludes by providing a number of potential solutions in addressing the current shortfalls in the IMO’s IA process which would be beneficial to SIDs and LDCs including Pacific Island states.

This document includes a new analysis of the inclusion of positive impacts in relevant international and regional instruments, and its implications for IMO's own impact assessments procedure.

A Policy Brief from the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, October 2021

The planet is embroiled in an unprecedented climate emergency that threatens a myriad of human rights including the rights to life, health, food, water and sanitation, freedom from discrimination, education, the rights of children, cultural rights, development, and the right to a healthy and sustainable environment. More than one degree of warming has already occurred at the global level, sparking an increase in extreme weather events, droughts, floods, heat waves, wildfires, increased air pollution, water shortages, and a host of other disruptive phenomena that collectively exacerbate biodiversity loss, ecosystem destruction, poverty, conflict, food and water insecurity, livelihood loss, socioeconomic inequality, and poor health outcomes.