CATF is a member of the Friends of the Earth International (FOEI) delegation, which has observer status at the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The IMO is a United Nations agency that is responsible for regulating the safety and environmental aspects of international shipping.

Air Pollution

Upon the urging of a number of European countries, supported by CATF and FOEI, the IMO decided in July 2005 to commence negotiations toward revising existing limits on air pollution from international shipping. These existing regulations, which are extremely lax, are embodied in a treaty known as MARPOL Annex VI. CATF and FOEI have been active participants in the discussions to strengthen Annex VI (in fact, we were the only representatives from environmental organizations participating in the IMO discussions). After years of difficult negotiations, in April 2008 the IMO agreed to strict new limits on emissions of nitrogen and sulfur oxides from new ships. These limits will be formally adopted in the fall of 2008.

The following documents have been submitted by CATF and its FOEI partners to the IMO to provide information and guidance to the Annex VI discussions.

Greenhouse Gases

In addition to its discussions on standards to reduce the emissions of traditional air pollutants from ships, the IMO has recently reinvigorated an existing but languishing process to examine limits on the emission of carbon dioxide and other climate-forcing agents from shipping. CATF and FOEI have also been active in these negotiations, which are expected to continue into 2009 or later.

CATF and its FOEI partners have submitted a variety of information to the IMO to provide information and guidance to the climate change discussions, including the following documents.