Malmo, Sweden – The WMU Maritime Affairs Conference 2026 convened today, Wednesday, 26 August in Malmo, Sweden bringing together policy-makers, academics, industry and students from across the world. Under the theme ‘Transforming Shipping in Practice: Decarbonization, Digitalization and Arctic Navigation’, the conference is expected to run three days discussing many topics.
Dr Harry Conway, Chair of the Marine Environment Protection Committee at the IMO and Liberia’s Alternate Permanent Representative to the IMO delivered a Keynote Speech at the opening session.
Speaking on the Topic: ‘International Shipping Decarbonization: Why Policy Pragmatism is Critical’, Dr. Conway called on policy-makers to focus on the ‘how to get things done’ side of things and stop being fixated on the search for a ‘perfect moment or answer’ before acting.
He warned that as there would never be ‘a perfect moment’ to addressing any problem the quest for such is utopian and would only lead to paralysis of progress. He reminded delegates that the policy environment is very complex. It is highly interconnected and interdependent. Therefore, policy-makers should not think in silos but rather broadly across the policy landscape to appreciate the views and impacts of one issue on the others.
Dr. Conway advised that for international shipping to decarbonize policy-makers should be prepared to collaborate and stop the prioritization of narrowed self-interest.
Dr Conway’s address comes amid ongoing efforts at the International Maritime Organization to adopt the Approved IMO Net-Zero Framework which adoption was deferred during the 2nd Extraordinary Session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee in October last year for 12 months.
