In conjunction with Malaysia’s 50^th anniversary in the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), as well as the IMO’s decade of action 2021 since the adoption of the first set of mandatory energy efficiency measures for ships, this high-level panel session aims to explore opportunities for Malaysia in climate actions and sustainable development by focusing on recent developments driven towards fostering innovation, knowledge sharing and technologies development for maritime decarbonisation. The forum will provide an overview of the ongoing efforts to support the implementation of measures to address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from shipping activities within the framework of the IMO initial Strategy for reducing GHG emissions, and more recently with the adoption of further key measures targeted at cutting the carbon intensity of all ships by at least 40% by 2030. The combination of mandatory measures combined with the implementation support from the IMO sets shipping on a pathway to decarbonisation in the global fight against climate change. These include capacity building, technical assistance and technology cooperation through global and regional projects that would also benefit Malaysia to meet the GHG targets. Some of these examples include the GEF-UNDP-IMO GloMEEP Project (concluded), the IMO-Norway GreenVoyage2050 project, as well as the upcoming IMO-Germany Asia Maritime Transport Emissions project (Blue Solutions) to cut maritime transport emissions in the region. Through this symposium, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) Malaysia in collaboration with the Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA) looks forward to contribute to knowledge sharing on emerging global, regional and national discourse on the role of the maritime sector in decarbonisation towards supporting climate actions and sustainable growth.

• To highlight IMO’s requirements on innovation, knowledge sharing and technology deployment for maritime management and decarbonisation;
• To enhance stakeholders’ awareness through sharing of perspectives on GHG reduction priorities in the maritime sector in Malaysia; and
• To share national GHG reduction initiatives, opportunities, as well as issues and challenges for further development and upscaling of GHG reduction programmes at the national level.