Global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from shipping rely heavily on improvements in energy efficiency and increased uptake of low-carbon technologies. Better energy efficiency means less fuel is used, and that means lower emissions.

Funded by the European Union (2016-2019) and implemented by the International Maritime Organization, the Global MTTC Network (GMN) – formally titled “Capacity Building for Climate Mitigation in the Maritime Shipping Industry ” – initiative unites technology centres – Maritime Technologies Cooperation Centres (MTCCs) – in targeted regions (Asia, Africa, Caribbean, Latin America, Pacific) into a global network. Together, they are promoting technologies and operations to improve energy efficiency in the maritime sector and help navigate shipping into a low-carbon future.

Developing countries and, in particular, Least Developed Countries and Small Islands Developing States, will be the main beneficiaries of this ambitious initiative.

Building capacity

Carefully selected to become centers of excellence for their regions, the MTCCs focus on technical co-operation, capacity building and technology transfer.

Supported by IMO and EU, the MTCCs act as regional focal points for a wide range of activities to:

• improve compliance with existing and future international energy-efficiency regulations
• help participating countries develop national energy-efficiency policies and measures for their maritime sectors
• promote uptake of low-carbon technologies and operations in maritime transport
• establish voluntary pilot data-collection and reporting systems to feed back into the global regulatory process.

Partnership and outreach

The MTCCs are partnering with forward-thinking academic institutions, commercial and shipping companies, government departments and authorities as well as other UN bodies with a climate-change mandate to pursue these far-reaching objectives.

The GMN also supports innovation with outreach. The outcomes of the various project activities will be widely shared and publicised, to magnify their effectiveness and add further value for all stakeholders.

How to participate

Estimates say ships’ energy consumption and CO₂ emissions could be reduced by up to 75% by applying operational measures and implementing existing technologies. The GMN is on the cutting edge of climate-change mitigation – and, at the same time, opening up a world of opportunities for those who participate in it. If you’d like to be part of this innovative and ambitious project, contact your regional MTCC (link to http://gmn.imo.org/mtcc/) or the GMN (link to http://gmn.imo.org/contact-us/) project team to find out more.