IAPH has joined BIMCO, FONASBA, IFSMA, InterManager, INTERTANKO, IPTA and IUMI in publishing a climate change glossary to clarify and harmonise definitions and terminology to ensure that discussions around climate change and potential solutions for the shipping industry are based on a mutual understanding of what the commonly used terms mean. Initiated and edited by BIMCO, the glossary is designed to contain encyclopaedic definitions. This means that the definition provides some elaboration and highlights differences between what might be considered similar definitions. The inclusion of a definition does not imply that it is a position adopted by the co-sponsoring organisations and definitions should always be considered neutral. Wherever possible (and if relevant) definitions are based on those used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) or other competent bodies and as such agreed by scientific and/or political consensus. Where changes have been made to an original definition, they have been done so with the intent to make the definition more applicable to shipping or to make the definition easier to understand for the reader. Where a high-level definition does not exist, novel definitions have been created. These have been sense-checked for scientific integrity against common usage of such terms in scientific literature and subsequently approved by BIMCO’s sub-group on alternative fuels. The glossary can be downloaded here. IAPH will support BIMCO and the other co-sponsors in submitting the glossary to the 79th session of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 79).
