New framework for developing just and inclusive maritime green corridors that create opportunities for both people and countries
New York / London / Copenhagen, December 4 2023 - Transitioning away from fossil fuels must include careful effort to avoid perpetuating the injustices present in today’s global economy, and instead ensure a just and equitable transition. A new report "Tides of Change: A Framework for Developing Just and Inclusive Maritime Green Corridors" co-created by the UN Global Compact, the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, and the Sustainable Shipping Initiative outlines the necessary considerations and actions required from companies and governments involved in establishing green shipping corridors around the world.
Recommendations made in the report for a just and equitable transition towards net zero include:
- Ensuring green corridors leverage wider transition aims regionally/locally including improved access to clean energy, the development of decent, sustainable jobs, a diverse and inclusive workforce and capacity building but also improved air quality and preservation of biodiversity and ecosystems regionally.
- Creating decent, sustainable jobs and workforce up-skilling. In the process of establishing green corridors, stakeholders can test and demonstrate how to conduct inclusive social dialogue with affected groups.
- Advocating for strengthening institutional and regulatory frameworks that promote inclusion and protection of the most affected stakeholders.
On the launch of the new joint report, Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact said:
“Putting the technologies in place to produce zero emissions fuels for use in the shipping industry will require a complex and coordinated effort across multiple industries and governments. Green corridors will help create the necessary enabling environment between the private and public sector to bring such initiatives to scale. This paper aims to encourage engagement with civil society organizations and communities, ensuring a human-centered approach to the development of green corridors.”
CEO of the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, Bo Cerup Simonsen says:
“We need the green corridors to not only demonstrate technical feasibility and regulatory compliance but also address the socio-economic dimensions comprehensively. The right approach can help us better understand and leverage the wider potential, nurture inclusive growth, create green, decent jobs, and enhance social dialogue for a future that honors both our planet and its people."
Sustainable Shipping Initiative CEO Steven Jones says:
“Shipping’s actions today are building the foundation for a resilient industry tomorrow. In order to do so, we need to ensure that shipping’s decarbonization is sustainable-environmentally, socially and socioeconomically. By taking concrete steps to incorporate principles of fair labor practices, community engagement, and inclusivity, green corridor consortia can play a key role in establishing a sustainable shipping sector that is decarbonized, just, and equitable.”
To see the full report please go to www.zerocarbonshipping.com/publications
-- ENDS --
Notes to Editors
What are just green shipping corridors?
Green corridors demonstrate the technical and regulatory feasibility of zero emission shipping with the involvement of stakeholders across the value chain. In the course of the transition away from fossil fuels, careful effort must be made to avoid perpetuating the injustices present in today’s global economy, and instead ensure a just and equitable transition. Because they are closed systems, green corridors can also be used to better understand and leverage the potential social and socio-economic benefits associated with the transition away from fossil fuels, as well as understand and mitigate potential risks and trade-offs.
About the UN Global Compact
As a special initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General, the UN Global Compact is a call to companies worldwide to align their operations and strategies with Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Our ambition is to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the Sustainable Development Goals through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. With more than 18,000 companies and 3,800 non-business signatories based in more than 160 countries, and 62 Local Networks, the UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative — one Global Compact uniting business for a better world. The Ocean Stewardship Coalition is a convening point at the UN Global Compact for ocean related industries, academic institutions, financial actors, governments and UN institutions. For more information, visit our website at unglobalcompact.org.
UNGC Media Contact: Alex Gee, gee@unglobalcompact.org
About the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping
The Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping (MMMCZCS) is an independent, not-for-profit research and development center established in 2020 with funding from the A.P. Moller Foundation. Our purpose is to guide and accelerate decarbonization of the global maritime industry. Working with our partners, governments, authorities, public sector bodies, scientists, and organizations across the global maritime industry we aim to inform, de-risk decision-making, and spark real climate action. Strategic Partners to the Center include: Alfa Laval, American Bureau of Shipping, A.P. Moller - Maersk, bp, Cargill, CF Industries, Equinor, DP World, Hapag-Lloyd, MAN Energy Solutions, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsui, NORDEN, NYK Line, Rio Tinto, Royal Caribbean Group, Seaspan Corporation, Siemens Energy, Stolt Tankers, Sumitomo Corporation, Swire Group, Topsoe, TotalEnergies and V.Group. For more information, please visit www.zerocarbonshipping.com
Center Media Contact: Anders Kongstad, Media & Digital Partner | +45 535 04 179 | anders.kongstad@zerocarbonshipping.com
About the The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI)
The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) is a multi-stakeholder collective of ambitious and like-minded leaders, driving change through cross-sectoral collaboration to contribute to – and thrive in – a more sustainable maritime industry. Spanning the entire shipping value chain, SSI members are shipowners and charterers; ports; shipyards; marine product, equipment and service providers; banks, ship finance and insurance providers; classification societies; and sustainability non-profits.Guided by the Roadmap to a sustainable shipping industry, SSI works on a range of issues related to enabling and furthering sustainable shipping, including shipping’s decarbonisation, and seafarers’ labour and human rights.For more information, please visit www.sustainableshipping.org
SSI Media contact: Elizabeth Petit González, Head of Partnerships and Communications, e.petit@sustainableshipping.org
Tides of Change: A Framework for Developing Just and Inclusive Green Shipping Corridors
Transitioning away from fossil fuels must include careful effort to avoid perpetuating the injustices present in today’s global economy, and instead ensure a just and equitable transition. A new report “Tides of Change: A Framework for Developing Just and Inclusive Maritime Green Corridors” co-created by the UN Global Compact, the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, and the Sustainable Shipping Initiative outlines the necessary considerations and actions required from companies and governments involved in establishing green shipping corridors around the world.
Recommendations made in the report for a just and equitable transition towards net zero include:
- Ensuring green corridors leverage wider transition aims regionally/locally including improved access to clean energy, the development of decent, sustainable jobs, a diverse and inclusive workforce and capacity building but also improved air quality and preservation of biodiversity and ecosystems regionally.
- Creating decent, sustainable jobs and workforce up-skilling. In the process of establishing green corridors, stakeholders can test and demonstrate how to conduct inclusive social dialogue with affected groups.
- Advocating for strengthening institutional and regulatory frameworks that promote inclusion and protection of the most affected stakeholders.
This report describes what the stakeholders involved in green corridors project consortia must consider in order to contribute to a just transition. It is evident that this requires significant collective action, but also that the benefits of this approach will spread far beyond the shipping industry benefiting individuals, communities, and countries.
SSI at COP28
SSI will be at the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Throughout COP28, we will be involved with various events and media relating to a plethora of matters around sustainable shipping.
Join us at the COP events:
Could some of the world’s largest ports, like Houston, Shanghai and Lázaro Cárdenas, become unusable due to sea level rises?
The triple climate crisis poses an existential threat to global shipping, responsible for 3% of emissions. By 2050, a 40cm sea level rise could devastate coastal communities worldwide. Explore learnings from the Global Maritime Trends Report 2050 on this urgent challenge. Discover innovative solutions and steps the maritime sector can take to curb emissions and prevent climate catastrophe, securing a sustainable future for our oceans and our planet. Elizabeth Petit González from SSI will be on the panel.
- Date: Tuesday 5th December
- Time: 12:30 – 13:30 (GST)
- Location: Ocean Pavilion, Blue Zone
- Organisers: Lloyd’s Register Foundation
- Livestream: Ocean Pavilion YouTube channel
Staying on Course for 1.5: Africa’s role in accelerating shipping’s green transition.
A 1.5-degree pathway will be impossible without shipping’s rapid, just and equitable green transition. Africa has a crucial role to play in this. This event will bring together key shipping stakeholders to highlight credible climate action and solutions during a pivotal year, including in response to a new GHG strategy at the IMO. This event will have french translation live during the event.
- Date: Tuesday 5th December
- Time: 15:00-16:30 (GST)
- Speakers: Ruth Boumphrey, CEO, Lloyd’s Register Foundation; Magda Kopczyńska, Director General of the Directorate-General Mobility and Transport; James Myunpe, Presidential Economic Advisor and Hydrogen Commissioner, Government of the Republic of Namibia; Funmi Folorunso, Secretary General, African Shipowners Association; Camille Bourgeon, Technical Officer – Marine Environment Division, International Maritime Organization; Sam Megwa, African Maritime Lead, UN High-Level Climate Champions Team; Lydia Ngugi, President of MTCC Africa
- Organisers: Sustainable Shipping Initiative, Lloyd’s Register Foundation
- Location: SE Room 6, Blue Zone
- Livestream link: UN Climate Change events YouTube channel
Navigating the Future: Bridging shipping, biodiversity, and decarbonisation.
Join us to explore how decarbonising shipping can have a nature-positive impact on ocean health and biodiversity.
There has been increasing focus on the need – and opportunity – to decarbonize international shipping. However, a sustainable, resilient maritime industry needs to consider not only how to decarbonize, but also other environmental, social, and socio-economic impacts. Now is the time to ensure that the growing momentum to decarbonize is informed by and coordinated with efforts to improve shipping’s overall impact on the ocean. Recognizing that this is interconnected, it is crucial to understand how shipping operations currently impact the environment around them, and to research and develop solutions for decarbonization that also consider these other ocean impacts and have potential co-benefits in addressing ocean health and biodiversity loss.
Moderated by Susan Ruffo, UN Foundation Senior Advisor for Ocean and Climate, this event will explore shipping’s short and long-term impact on ocean health, productivity and biodiversity, identify links between actions to decarbonize and to protect ocean health and anchor these in the shipping community through best practice.
- Date: Friday 8th December
- Time: 15:00 -16:00 (GST)
- Organisers: Equal Routes, Race to Zero, Sustainable Shipping Initiative, UN Foundation
- Location: State of Green Pavilion, Blue Zone
Look out for the SSI in the Race to Zero blog and COP daily news.
- Tuesday 5th December – Green steel in shipping: How international shipping can lower emissions through progressive adoption of green steel
- Wednesday 6th December – How green corridors might help us understand the socio-economic and broader environmental aspects of the transition to zero carbon shipping
Steven Jones
Steven Jones
Chief Executive Officer
Steven spent a decade working as a navigation officer in the merchant navy, primarily on cable ships. Ashore he has worked in marine fraud investigations, maritime security, and with the UK Department for Business and Trade. He is also the Founder of the Seafarers Happiness Index, a project with the Mission to Seafarers to address the concerns of crew and to ensure that the voice of those at sea is heard, good practices shared, and problems tackled. Steven is also the author of key maritime industry texts on Maritime Security, Piracy, Stowaways and Crime at Sea. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Maritime Studies, and Masters degrees in Marketing, Communications and Public Relations, and also International Relations.
SSI Impact: News from our journey to sustainable shipping - 04/2023
The SSI Newsletter is published quarterly and is the place to find news from the SSI community, our partners and the impact of our collective work along our journey to a sustainable shipping industry.
Subscribe to SSI Impact: News from our journey to sustainable shipping
SSI Impact: News from our journey to sustainable shipping - 03/2023
The SSI Newsletter is published quarterly and is the place to find news from the SSI community, our partners and the impact of our collective work along our journey to a sustainable shipping industry.
Subscribe to SSI Impact: News from our journey to sustainable shipping
LISW: Green corridors and the need for a just and equitable transition
15 September 2023 – The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) held a roundtable during London International Shipping Week, hosted by Lloyd’s Register, on the need for a just and equitable transition to be considered in the context of green shipping corridors.
The roundtable, held under Chatham House rule, is one in a series of stakeholder consultations taking place this year in the context of research being carried out jointly by SSI, the Mærsk McKinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, and the UN Global Compact Ocean Stewardship Coalition.
The event brought together maritime stakeholders from the corporate and NGO spaces engaged in green corridor discussions, with the aim of gathering insights into the existing challenges and opportunities for developing green corridors in a just and equitable manner.
If green corridors can act as pilots for zero emission fuels and technologies, can we also use them as pilots for a just and equitable shipping sector?
Setting the scene
A just transition is defined as “greening the economy in a way that is as fair and inclusive as possible to everyone concerned, creating decent work opportunities and leaving no one behind.” A just transition involves “maximising the social and economic opportunities of climate action, while minimising and carefully managing any challenges – including through effective social dialogue among all groups impacted.” (International Labour Organization). Read more about the need for a just and equitable transition in shipping.
A green shipping corridor is defined as a “shipping route on which the uptake of zero or near-zero GHG emission technologies, fuels and/or energy sources are deployed, and emissions reductions are measured and enabled through public and private actions and policies.” (Mærsk McKinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping). Read more about green shipping corridors here.
Three main areas are discussed in this research in the context of green corridors and just transition: workers (including seafarers, port workers and workers across the fuel value chain), communities (across the green corridor activities), and the national level (linking to access to green corridors as well as risks and opportunities for governments).
Industry’s role in the just transition
The updated IMO GHG strategy, adopted in July this year, makes explicit reference to the need for shipping’s transition to be just and equitable. Whilst much of the responsibility for ensuring this falls on governments, the private sector plays a large role in making this possible – from demanding a just transition from governments to ensuring these considerations are built into their own projects and activities.
This is a global challenge – the maritime sector is complex and to decarbonise, there are a variety of fuels and technologies that need to be explored. The green transition cannot be tackled in a silo. Ensuring no country is left behind is a core part of enabling a just transition that benefits all – and in particular, countries that are disproportionately affected by the impacts of the changing climate – as well as building a resilient maritime sector.
One area where shipping’ role is clear-cut is its own workforce and the need for adequate seafarer training in preparation for new fuels. Challenges were outlined around the safety concerns surrounding the handling of alternative fuels, such as ammonia, and the need for common and universally available guidelines to facilitate the development of training programmes.
Training programmes would need to take place at multiple levels: from the vessel for the seafarers onboard, to the port and local community for those working onshore with e.g., fuel transport, storage, and bunkering. This would create opportunities for local capacity building, as well as early inputs on community needs which are necessary for a future where alternative fuels production, transport, storage and bunkering takes place on a more local scale. The potential of the energy transition to create a more diverse workforce considering gender, youth, and other factors was also highlighted in connection to this.
The cost driver of green corridors
The high cost of entry for green corridors was highlighted as a key barrier to ensuring a just and equitable transition. On this, it was noted that a ‘green’ corridor does not only run on alternative fuels, but also incorporates a range of efficiency measures, many of which are already available today, which can lower entry barriers.
However, with high costs and high risk, green corridors may be heavily reliant on financial incentives from governments, which in turn may limit their establishment to countries with such incentives in place. The potential for intervention from development banks was also discussed, noting that this could be an area to increase awareness on.
This raises a key issue with the way green corridor routes are established, often based on financial convenience or political will rather than potential impact. It is therefore necessary to consider how to best identify green corridor ports and routes, taking into consideration workers, local communities, and equity. The need for community consultation and considering community impact at the pre-feasibility phase of a green corridor was highlighted.
How do we use just and equitable principles to inform where a green corridor is developed?
Opportunities for impact in green corridors
Large green corridor consortia can make it difficult to make decisions as they require consensus-building between multiple actors, and more research is needed on governance models for green corridors to understand levers for impact. It was noted that corridors may also have a range of focus areas depending on national and local priorities, with countries like Chile and South Africa driving just transition thinking within their green corridor engagement.
The pre-feasibility phase in a green corridor development was identified as the one with the biggest potential for impact, noting that data-driven decision-making can help identify countries with high potential for future fuel production as well as risks, including just transition risks.
Finally, the need for a just and equitable transition is a rapidly emerging topic within the maritime sector. There are growing opportunities for partnering and impact leading up to and beyond COP28, which will take place this December in Dubai, UAE, and where the final report will be released.
LISW: Green steel and shipping
13 September 2023 – London International Shipping Week saw the public launch of SSI’s Green Steel and Shipping report, kickstarting a discussion around the need to broaden how we define “zero emission shipping”
The event, held in collaboration with The Climate Group’s SteelZero initiative, was hosted at the London office of Watson, Farley & Williams.
Simon Petch, partner at Watson Farley & Williams, opened the full-house event by highlighting the development bringing the lifecycle and materials of a vessel to people’s minds: the recent ratification of the Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships. Ship recycling plays a crucial role for a circular material flow within the ship lifecycle. Furthermore, circularity provides an opportunity to design more resource-efficient ships, discuss extending their lifecycle, ensure better and safer recycling, and optimise the use of materials, such as steel recovered from ships.
SSI Executive Director Andrew Stephens then spoke about SSI’s history with the topic, beginning in 2013 with the Closed Loop Materials Management work which looked at material traceability as a step towards circularity. In 2021, SSI re-started the discussion around what circularity means for shipping by focusing on steel.
The industry is evolving. Decarbonising shipping requires change in the current fleet and this presents opportunities to explore how ships are designed and built, the building materials, and what happens at a vessel’s end of life. As the sector decarbonises, non-fuel-related GHG emissions will become more relevant. Given the 20-30 year lifespan of a vessel, exploration must begin now, as vessels built today may still be at sea in 2050.
Green steel
Steel makes up 75-85% of a ship by weight and it is a key source of shipping’s Scope 3 GHG emissions, as the steel sector is responsible for 7-9% of global GHG emissions. The Green Steel and Shipping report illuminates the synergies between shipping and steel’s decarbonisation efforts. Andreea Miu, SSI’s Head of Decarbonisation, shared the report’s key findings: from what ‘green steel’ is and its potential in shipping to the exploration of the material flow of steel and how steel circularity can be integrated by addressing key barriers and drivers.
An expert panel was then convened to discuss the topic, moderated by Sameen Khan (Steel Zero). The panel consisted of Nicolò Aurisano (A.P. Moller-Maersk), Amelia Hipwell (Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub), Gudrun Janssens (BIMCO), and Kate Kalinova (Solutions for Our Climate).
Traceability and transparency are crucial to the uptake of green steel and circularity within shipping
The classification approval process for green steel for marine applications requires two steps: the steel should be approved as green, looking at GHG emissions across the production process, and it should be approved as marine grade.
This complexity means that clear guidelines on GHG emissions from steel production and the traceability of both GHG emissions and green steel products are key for green steel classification. However, a system for tracking in this way is not currently in place across the ship lifecycle.
This needs to improve, more data on green steel products for shipping is needed, and this needs to capture the emissions savings gained from scrapped vessels and the resource-efficient use of shipping’s scrap steel. More data is also needed to bolster demand for green steel from shipping and to understand whether this demand can be met by the steel industry.
Ultimately, transparency and traceability are necessary to build a resilient shipping industry that operates within planetary boundaries.
The entry into force of the Hong Kong Convention in 2025 also means Inventories of Hazardous Materials will become the norm, making lifecycle traceability a requirement for several substances.
However, current regulations and guidelines on ship recycling and hazardous waste, from the Hong Kong Convention to the Basel Convention, fall short of encouraging a circular economy. In addition to this, incentives for green steel tend to fall under national and regional regulation, where other legal instruments may be more relevant. Amendments are needed to align regulations and policies to encourage a circular economy and drive production and uptake of green steel.
What can be done to progress?
Panellists shared their insights into what is needed to encourage green steel production, requiring action throughout the entire value chain:
- Pool demand and make commitments on green steel that will be required. This can be done by shipbuilders, or by shipowners ordering new vessels. The greater the demand for green steel, the more action will come from steel producers and classification societies.
- Dialogue throughout the entire value chain is needed – from suppliers of ship parts and policymakers to shipowners and investors, ensuring a shared understanding of the challenge and the role shipping can play as a steel consumer.
- Improving existing ship recycling processes to ensure optimal use and segregation of scrap steel (as well as improving the sector’s existing environmental and social issues).
Until green steel becomes a reality and is available at scale, there are incremental changes that can be made to reduce lifecycle emissions.
Vessels can be designed to increase operational and material efficiency, increase the repairability of components, and make it easier to replace parts and extend the lifetime of a vessel.In addition to this,operational and energy efficiency measures can also be implemented to start producing steel in less emission-intensive ways. These improvements are possibletoday and could be already implemented whilst the steel sector explores large-scale decarbonisation.
In her closing remarks, Pia Melling from Grieg Green emphasised how demands for transparency and traceability will increase – from buyers of scrap steel wanting to know more about that steel production and use, to capital providers and cargo owners asking for information on lifecycle emissions of ships, as well as increase corporate due diligence corporate, such as from the EU Corporate Due Diligence Directive coming into place.
The updated IMO GHG strategy calls for decarbonisation by 2050. Ships built today are the pioneers of a zero emission, sustainable future for the sector. Therefore, in 2023, it is our responsibility to take action, create demand for green steel in shipping, and shape a future for shipping that is transparent and well-informed about all the social and environmental impacts of its activities.
IMO revised GHG strategy
Progress against milestone 6.2030.2:
Mid- and long-term measures implemented and national regulation incentivising and ensuring the uptake of zero (or low) carbon fuels and technologies in place.
The International Maritime Organisation’s revised Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships include:
- ambition to reach net-zero GHG emissions close to 2050
- ensure an uptake of alternative zero and near-zero GHG fuels to represent at least 5%, striving for 10%, of the energy used by international shipping by 2030
- reduced carbon intensity (by at least 40% by 2030, compared to 2008)
- Interim GHG reduction targets (20% by 2030, and 70% by 2040, compared to 2008)
Source: International Maritime Organization
Revised Biofouling guidelines
Progress against milestone 1.2040.2:
High seas and coastal marine protected areas are established and enforced, and marine spatial plans are in place