The governments of Denmark, Norway, and the United States (US), along with the Global Maritime Forum and the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, announced on June 2, 2021, that they will lead a new Zero-Emission Shipping Mission as part of Mission Innovation, a global initiative launched 2015 alongside the Paris Agreement.
Mission Innovation is a global initiative of 24 countries and the European Commission working to accelerate clean energy innovation. The objective is to help move clean energy solutions from lab to market, and catalyze action and investment in research, development, and demonstration to make clean energy affordable, attractive, and accessible to all this decade.
Through fearless technological innovation, ambitious clean energy deployment, and constructive international collaboration, we can build a net-zero carbon economy that creates millions of jobs and lifts our citizens into greater prosperity, said Jennifer Granholm, US Secretary of Energy.
The new Zero-Emission Shipping Mission aims to accelerate international public-private collaboration to scale and deploy new green maritime solutions, setting international shipping on an ambitious zero-emission course.
In Denmark, we believe a greener future is possible – if we work together. As one of the world’s largest maritime nations, Denmark has initiated the Zero-Emission Shipping Mission, with great partners from the public and the private sector from all over the world. Our common goal is to make zero-emission vessels the natural choice for ship owners when they renew their fleet, said Simon Kollerup, Danish Minister for Industry, Business, and Financial Affairs.
Along with the lead partners, the Mission will also be supported by the governments of India, Morocco, the UK, Singapore, France, Ghana, and South Korea.
The shipping industry needs to decarbonize to be part of the solution to the climate crisis. It will not be easy, and we don’t have a lot of time, but it is possible, and now is the time to act. The Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping is all about accelerating the transition by finding solutions through collaboration with partners across the ecosystem. With our partners, we are proud and excited to co-lead this very important Zero Emission Shipping Mission, said Bo Cerup-Simonsen, CEO of the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping.
Carrying 80–90 percent of global trade in a less carbon-intensive manner than other freight transport modes, international maritime shipping nonetheless represents about 2–3 percent of the world’s total annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Shipping is on the verge of a clean energy revolution. To set the global maritime industry on a climate-aligned course and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, zero-emission vessels need to be the dominant and competitive choice by the end of this decade. The Zero-Emission Shipping Mission will accelerate public and private efforts around the world to make a zero-emission fleet a reality by 2030, said Johannah Christensen, Managing Director of the Global Maritime Forum.
Without immediate and concerted efforts, emissions from the sector could increase between 50–250 percent by 2050.
The decarbonization of shipping will result in a growing global demand for climate technology in the years ahead. Norway’s and other countries leading position in green shipping can become an important competitive advantage, giving the maritime industry huge growth potential in international markets, said Sveinung Rotevatn, Norwegian Minister for Climate and Environment.
The three main goals of the Zero-Emission Shipping Mission are:
- Develop, demonstrate, and deploy zero-emission fuels, ships, and fuel infrastructure in a coordinated fashion along the full value chain;
- By 2030, ships capable of running on hydrogen-based zero-emission fuels—such as green hydrogen, green ammonia, green methanol, and biofuels—make up at least 5 percent of the global deep-sea fleet measured by fuel consumption;
- By 2030, at least 200 of these well-to-wake zero-emissions fueled ships are in service and utilizing these fuels across their main deep-sea shipping routes.
Together, the members will:
- Focus on the entire value chain: the ship, the fuel production, and the fuel infrastructure, driving the sector to a tipping point in its transition to well-to-wake zero-emission fuels as soon as possible;
- Increase engagement with the private sector to link up decarbonization efforts across the value chain and promote/facilitate public-private partnerships;
- Increase international exchanges and sharing of best practices, including sharing domestic efforts on innovation for zero-emission shipping (e.g. policies, programmes, and public-private partnerships);
- Engage in research, development, and demonstration activities that will help accelerate commercial readiness of maritime and energy technologies, paving the way for well-to-wake zero-emission vessels.
In addition, each member will work to develop:
- Joint innovation activities with other members, such as shared research projects, and joint calls and programmes;
- Joint demonstration projects for commercial-scale deep-sea vessels running on zero-emission fuels;
- ‘Green corridors’ that provide policy and infrastructure mechanisms to enable first movers in zero-emission shipping.
