If I had $1bn to accelerate zero-emission shipping, I would put $250m into the development of zero-emission, well-to-wake maritime propulsion systems — with a focus on batteries, wind-propulsion and green-hydrogen fuel cells.
This article is part of a series written by people across shipping in response to this question about how to deploy a hypothetical TradeWinds Sustainable Shipping Fund:
How, where and why would you invest $1bn for the best return in sustainable shipping, as the industry grapples with the need to cut carbon emissions, improve efficiency and keep cargoes moving in a world facing multiple economic and political challenges? The investment will be made now and ideally held for the next seven years to the end of the decade. As an added bonus, give one policy or regulation you would like to implement from 1 January 2023 to benefit shipping?
Another $250m would go into getting zero-emission ships with said engines onto the water and into operation as fast as possible, getting ports and workers familiar with the new technologies.
A third $250m would go to catalysing zero-emission, well-to-wake fuels development and bunkering in critical, first-mover ports, to ensure zero-emission ships have access to electric charging and fuel supply.
I would dedicate the final $250m to worker and community-led environmental ideas and projects to define and prepare for the transition to zero-emission shipping.
The era of fossil-fuelled shipping caused tremendous harm to workers and port communities worldwide, and we must centre these communities in designing the transition to zero-emission shipping and use the energy transition as an opportunity for reparative justice.
If I could pass a magic-wand policy for shipping at the start of this year, it would be a progressive zero-emission fuel standard for all vessels, requiring all ships using California port terminals — or better yet, all US ports terminals — to emit zero climate and air emissions by 2040.
We are urging the Gavin Newsom administration in California and the Joe Biden administration in the US to start developing these regulations. However, given the urgency of the climate crisis, the massive amount of new newbuildings in the global orderbook and the long lifespan of vessels, we really need mandatory, market-forcing zero-emission regulations on the books today.
