Green shipping corridors have expanded in popularity worldwide, but progress could stall without urgent action from governments to overcome a “feasibility wall”, according to Getting to Zero Coalition and the Global Maritime Forum.
The two bodies have published the Annual Progress Report on Green Shipping Corridors 2024. The third iteration of the publication, tt highlighted the growth in the number of initiatives, increasing by 40 percent in 2023 to a total of 62 initiatives globally. Alongside this expansion, a third of the existing corridors have advanced to a new phase of exploration, including feasibility studies, implementation roadmaps, and cost assessments. Six frontrunning initiatives are now preparing for real-world implementation, establishing blueprints for green corridors worldwide.
However, these initiatives risk hitting roadblocks if the cost of transitioning to sustainable energy sources is not urgently addressed by national policy incentives.
“Green shipping corridors have an essential role to play in accelerating zero-emission shipping. This year saw a handful of advanced corridors setting the pace, but continued progress is not inevitable. If industry and national governments make a concerted effort to share the costs and risks associated with new fuels, these leading corridors could together generate a breakthrough for zero-emission shipping before 2030,” said Jesse Fahnestock, director of decarbonisation at the Global Maritime Forum.
The associations beleive that green shipping corridors are central to delivering the goal of having zero-emission fuels account for 5 percent of all fuels by 2030. The 5 percent target is considered the threshold at which the infrastructure, supply chains, and technologies that support zero-emission fuels are mature enough to enable exponential growth.
The report identified five key recommendations to ensure the continued successful development of green corridors, including government support to bridge the operational cost gap of transitioning to alternative energy sources, and the development of innovative commercial agreements for fuel procurement and chartering/cargo within green corridor initiatives.
Also on the to-do list is the development of a flexible, programmatic governance approach to encourage participation and collaboration while allowing for risk-sharing and scaling. It also calls for more exploration into policy and finance for green corridors – and zero-emission fuel – in the Global South, which faces unique challenges that may require collaboration with development banks to identify solutions.
Finally, it asked for focused support on existing green corridor initiatives to progress against Clydebank Declaration targets, given the limited public and private resources available.
