Shipping industry to decarbonize on land

Shipping’s brave new zero emissions world will be achieved on land, not at sea, top names attending the UN Climate Action Summit in New York told a press conference held in September. More than 70 signatories – including the likes of Maersk, Shell, Cargill and Trafigura – came together, vowing to get commercially viable zero emission vessels operating on deep sea routes by 2030.The Getting to Zero Coalition has been lauded as an inspiration for other forms of transport to follow.Speaking at a press conference at UN headquarters, Jeppe Kofod, Denmark’s minister for foreign affairs, said shipping needed leadership and partnership if it was to decarbonise, with greater pressure coming for shoreside infrastructure to up its game. “On shipping it’s 20% of the emissions on ships themselves, but the whole industry – the ports, and networks and infrastructure – account for 80%, so we need to link these things in a public/private partnership,” Kofod said, going on to say that shipping can show the way for other forms of transportation in how to decarbonise. Echoing the minister, Soren Toft, chairman of Maersk Container Industries, said: “In order for shipping to be relevant in the medium to long term shipping must find ways to decarbonise itself but shipping cannot do this itself, shipping must work with all shareholders in the value chain.” Toft said it was vital shipping work with upstream partners and ports to make zero carbon shipping a reality. Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of Antwerp Port Authority, was up next in the press conference, and he too conceded that much of the weight of the decarbonisation challenges stood on the shoulders of the ports sector.