The development of a green shipping industry has come into sharp focus at the annual international climate summit, COP27, in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt with the launch of a new maritime initiative.
United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, chaired the launch of the Green Shipping Challenge during the World Leaders Summit of COP27. Countries, ports, and companies made more than 40 major announcements on issues such as innovations for ships, expansion in low- or zero-emission fuels, and policies to help promote the uptake of next-generation vessels. Announcements included Maersk's $10-billion deal with Spain to make green bunker fuel, America's $3bn investment in clean ports in the Inflation Reduction Act, and the expanding list of global plans to develop green shipping corridors. Some of the recently announced green corridor initiatives include:
• US-UK
• UK-Norway
• UK-Netherlands
• LA/Long Beach-Singapore
• LA/Long Beach-Shanghai
• Singapore-Southeast Asia
• Singapore-Australia
• Belgium-Sweden
• US-South Korea
Additional corridor initiatives announced at the summit included a new Green Shipping Corridor Hub, an online platform for stakeholders worldwide, two research publications, and a pledge of $1.5 million to fund future feasibility studies.
Norway's green maritime leaders pledged to cut their emissions at the same pace as the rest of Norwegian society, by 50% by 2030. This will require 700 low-emission and 400 zero-emission ships in Norway alone.
