An IMO Debut: “Shipping Nexus” Solutions for Climate, Biodiversity and Pollution
NGOs with consultative status at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) banded together to submit a paper based on the Equal Routes report Navigating the Future: Bridging Shipping, Biodiversity, and Decarbonization.
This submission, known as the “shipping nexus” issue, MEPC/82/7/10, highlights the urgent need for shipping solutions that address the interconnected planetary crises of pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss.
A New IMO Task Force
The co-sponsors of MEPC82/7/10 call for a new framework – one that elevates biodiversity and pollution concerns to the same level of urgency as climate actions.
A central recommendation is the creation of a high-level task force, modeled after the IMO’s Maritime Just Transition Task Force, to explore these critical issues and propose actionable steps forward.
This will mark the beginning of a new approach, where biodiversity and pollution are treated as inseparable components of meaningful climate action.
The “Shipping Nexus”
At the core of this nexus approach is the recognition that a healthy, diverse ocean plays a vital role in tackling climate change. The ocean has the ability to soak up 31% of global CO2 emissions and produces half of the planet’s oxygen.
As the IMO Secretary General emphasized in his speech designating 2025 World Maritime Day, the ocean is indispensable for the continued existence of humanity—providing food, jobs, recreation, and regulating our climate. Protecting it is not just an environmental obligation but essential for our collective well-being.
To support a healthy ocean, Equal Routes is promoting what we call the ‘co-benefits solution space’ through the Shipping Pact for People and Nature (SPPaN). This pact champions solutions that address multiple challenges at once, including:
• Creating more Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSAs),
• Designating Emission Control Areas (ECAs) everywhere,
• Slowing ships down to address underwater noise and increase efficiency, and
• Eliminating pollutants like scrubber wastewater.
These measures, when combined, offer a holistic approach for shipping to tackle the triple planetary crisis.
The Global Biodiversity Framework at the IMO
A related development, MEPC 82-INF.35, submitted by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), highlights connections between the ongoing work of the IMO and the CBD’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (the Biodiversity Framework). This submission calls for greater alignment between intergovernmental organizations, including the IMO, and the Biodiversity Framework, with the shared goal of preserving global biodiversity.
MEPC 82 (September 30 – October 4) presents an unparalleled opportunity for IMO member states to reimagine a new course for shipping in addressing these intertwined crises. By embracing the proposed task force on shipping intersectionality and aligning efforts with the CBD’s Biodiversity Framework, the global maritime community will be well positioned to develop a pathway forward that benefits people, the planet, and the sector.