September 2009: The World Maritime Day 2009 will be celebrated at the headquarters of the International Maritime Organization in London, UK, on 24 September 2009, under the theme “Climate change: a challenge for IMO too!” To mark the occasion, IMO Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos has prepared a special message on the issue, supported by a background paper.

In his message, Mitropoulos outlines relevant IMO work, including an action plan and work towards finalization of a regime to regulate shipping at the global level and contribute to the deceleration of climate change; progress with regard to the development of an Energy Efficiency Design Index for new ships and a Ship Energy Management Plan for all ships, as well as an Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator; and considerable technical progress to address energy efficiency issues, all of which will be conveyed to the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. [World Maritime Day 2009][WMD message][WMD background paper]