Challenges and Opportunities in Harmonizing MARPOL Annex VI (Air Pollution) with IMO 2050 Emission Targets

Marine transportation is a critical component of the global economy, yet a major source of SOx and NOx emissions, causing air pollution. These emissions have adverse effects on the environment and human health, which has led to the management body, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), putting in place the MARPOL Annex VI regulation. This paper examines the major issues and gaps to analyze critical aspects of how the IMO 2050 emission can be achieved under the MARPOL Annex VI framework. Survey results from maritime professionals provide insight into main concern areas: high implementation costs of new technologies, insufficient infrastructure of alternative fuels, variation in enforcement depending on region, low penetration and training, and the absence of monitoring indicators. The results revealed that the aforementioned challenges correlate with the activity of global frameworks like the BA to standardize check and balance mechanisms under MARPOL Annex VI. To this end, the study highlights the roles of international cooperation, technologies, and capacity-development endeavors to fill these gaps. It is when performing its operations, using the mechanisms for the uniform enforcement of standards, and training, key principles facilitating compliance and thus decreasing the number of emissions from ships are seen. This research therefore, aids in the aimed discussion of sustainable shipment and offers valuable information to policymakers, regulatory agencies, and involved parties that seek to attain the IMO 2050 goals and embrace green shipping.