http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=2315

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and South Korea have announced an aid programme for the east Asian region targeting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction in shipping. The move is the latest sign of the growing push by Asian economies to embrace the opportunities of the green economy, not just in shipping and ports but across the industrial spectrum.

IMO says that under the agreement aid agency Korea International Co-Operation Agency (KOICA) will provide $700,000 funding for the global shipping regulator to carry out ten projects around the east Asian region over the next two years. Detail on exactly what the projects will entail is scant as yet but IMO says they will be about “enhancing the capacities of developing countries in East Asia to develop and implement, at the national level, appropriate action on CO2 emissions from shipping”.
The IMO says the programme is designed to give developing countries in the region a leg up in preparation for dealing with impending international GHG regulations being developed for ships. Fuel efficiency measures and technology are believed to be a focus of the programme, in keeping with IMO moves to mandate new efficiency standards in ship design and operation.
South Korea is moving ahead with a planned emissions trading scheme across 60 per cent of its economy, aiming to start sometime between 2013 and 2015.