MORE than 150 industry leaders and organisations have signed on to the Call to Action for Shipping Decarbonization.

The document says shipping must align with the Paris Agreement temperature goal, which is to keep global warming to below 2 preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared with pre-industrial temperatures.

The call to action was organised by the Global Maritime Forum, which is an international not-for-profit organisation that aims to shape “the future of global seaborne trade to increase sustainable long-term economic development and human wellbeing”.

A press release announcing the call to action said the private sector is already taking important steps to decarbonise global supply chains. Now governments must deliver the policies that will help the transition and make zero emission shipping the default choice by 2030.

Signatories to the Call to Action for Shipping Decarbonization include industry leaders and organisations representing the entire maritime value chain, including shipping, cargo, energy, finance, ports, and infrastructure.

In conjunction with the UN General Assembly and ahead of critical climate negotiations at COP26 in Glasgow this November, they call on governments to work together with industry to deliver the policies and investments needed to reach critical tipping points in decarbonizing global supply chains and the global economy.

Signatories to the Call to Action for Shipping Decarbonization include: Anglo American, A.P. Moller – Maersk, BHP, BP, BW LPG, Cargill Ocean Transportation, Carnival Corporation, Citi, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, ENGIE, Euronav, GasLog, Hapag-Lloyd, Lloyd’s Register, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, Ocean Network Express, Olympic Shipping and Management, Panama Canal Authority, Port of Rotterdam, Rio Tinto, Shell, Trafigura, Ultranav, Volvo, and Yara.

Citi CEO Jane Fraser said, “Now is the time to raise our ambitions and align shipping worldwide—a significant carrier of global trade—with the goals of the Paris Agreement. We are working closely with our clients to advance the shipping industry’s transition to net zero emissions and, with the support of strong public policy measures, we can accelerate our collective efforts to decarbonise the global economy.”

The private sector is already taking concrete actions to decarbonise shipping. This includes investing in research and pilot projects; ordering and building vessels operated carbon neutrally; buying zero-emission shipping services; investing in the production of net-zero emission fuels; investing in port and bunkering infrastructure; and assessing and disclosing the climate alignment of shipping related activities.

A.P. Moller – Maersk CEO of fleet and strategic brands Henriette Hallberg Thygesen said for the world to decarbonise, shipping must decarbonise.

“Our customers are looking to us to decarbonise their supply chain emissions. We are investing significantly in the carbon neutral emissions technologies that are readily available,” she said.

“To make such investments the default choice across our industry, we need a market-based measure to close the competitiveness gap between fossil and zero emission fuels of today and the carbon neutral fuels of tomorrow.”

Signatories of the Call to Action for Shipping Decarbonization call on world leaders to:

  • Commit to decarbonising international shipping by 2050 and deliver a clear and equitable implementation plan to achieve this when adopting the IMO GHG Strategy in 2023.
  • Support industrial scale zero emission shipping projects through national action, for instance by setting clear decarbonisation targets for domestic shipping and by providing incentives and support to first movers and broader deployment of zero emissions fuels and vessels.
  • Deliver policy measures that will make zero emission shipping the default choice by 2030, including meaningful market-based measures, taking effect by 2025 that can support the commercial deployment of zero emission vessels and fuels in international shipping.

The Call to Action for Shipping Decarbonization was developed by a multi-stakeholder taskforce convened by the Getting to Zero Coalition – a partnership between the Global Maritime Forum, the World Economic Forum, and Friends of Ocean Action. Members of the taskforce include Cargill Ocean Transportation, Citi, the COP26 Climate Champions team, the Energy Transitions Commission, Lloyd’s Register, Port of Antwerp, Torvald Klaveness, Trafigura, Yara, and UMAS.