Day-to-day challenges and rivalries were put aside for a couple of days last week when around 230 maritime industry leaders gathered in Singapore to help mould the future shape of shipping in a fast-changing world.
The second annual Global Maritime Forum was dominated by the question of how to push ahead with the decarbonisation of an industry built on fossil fuels.
Most of those attending — who dubbed themselves “the coalition of the willing” — acknowledged there are few easy answers, but many appeared willing to consider changes that would have been unpalatable until just a few years ago.
Michael Parker, head of shipping and logistics at US bank Citigroup, said: “The good work that everyone in this room can do lowering their emissions, supported by institutions, will make this industry not just transparent but also, in my view, profitable.”
British environmental law maker Baroness Bryony Worthington asked delegates: “Why should you care? Because it is going to make good business sense.”
