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October 2011 www.sname.org/sname/mt According to the Second IMO GHG Study 2009, the most authoritative analysis of the impact of shipping on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to date, shipping in general is estimated to have emitted 1,046 million tons of CO2 in 2007, which corre- sponds to 3.3% of the global emissions during that year, of which international shipping is responsible for 870 mil- lion tons, or approximately 2.7%. Although these gures have not varied signicantly in the past three years due to the downturn suered by world trade during this period, it is widely expected that the signicant growth experi- enced in the last three decades will soon resume and, if action is not taken now, ship emissions could poten- tially increase by a factor of two to three by the year 2050. Therefore, the challenge of reducing carbon emis- sions is of critical importance for the shipping industry and, especially, for its regulator, the International Maritime Organization (IMO). In pursuing its mandate to protect the marine and atmospheric environment and in har- mony with the relevant provisions of the Kyoto Protocol, the IMO has been engaged for more than 10 years in eorts to reduce and limit greenhouse gas emissions from ships engaged in international trade through its specialized tech- nical body, the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC). Since 2006, the MEPC has been working in accordance with a work plan leading to the development of technical, operational, and market-based measures designed to increase the energy eciency of shipping. WHAT EEDI AND SEEMP MEAN FOR THE REDUCTION OF GHG EMISSIONS FROM SHIPS BY MIGUEL PALOMARES Opportunities CHALLENGES &