IPIECA helps the IMO to assess the science surrounding proposed changes to the marine fuels regime. It also identifies ways to make cleaner marine fuels more readily available to ship owners around the world.

In 2005, a new IMO regulation (MARPOL 93/97 Annex VI, Regulation 14) limited the amount of sulphur permitted in shipping fuel to 4.5 per cent m/m globally, and 1.5 per cent m/m in Emission Control Areas (ECAs). Currently, only the Baltic Sea and the North Sea/English Channel are ECAs. However, most coastal areas of the USA and Canada will become an ECA in 2011. Allowable levels of sulphur emissions from shipping in ECAs will drop sharply from July 2010 onwards, reaching less than 0.1 per cent m/m by 2015.

IPIECA has produced a document that discusses the various aspects of emissions from shipping activities. It covers current and proposed legislation, types and sources of emissions, abatement strategies and their consequences, and includes stakeholder views.

• Maritime air emissions and MARPOL Annex VI