Navigating Towards Cleaner Maritime Shipping: Lessons from the Nordic region
A new report “Navigating Towards Cleaner Maritime Shipping” explores ways to reduce carbon emissions and air pollution from ships in the Nordic region. The report details currently feasible technological options…
A new report “Navigating Towards Cleaner Maritime Shipping” explores ways to reduce carbon emissions and air pollution from ships in the Nordic region. The report details currently feasible technological options to reduce emissions and reviews the status of their adoption including government plans to shape future developments. It also assesses implications for policy making to achieve a rapid transition to cleaner maritime shipping. The report is prepared by the International Transport Forum and funded by Nordic Energy Research.
The report specifically examines how the Nordic region can build on its success as global leader in sustainable shipping, and how these experiences can help other shipping nations to reduce shipping emissions.
“Nordic Energy Research has funded the report and will use it to promote future research collaborations with a focus on reducing carbon emissions and air pollution from shipping. In 2021, Nordic Energy Research will fund several projects in which researchers and the maritime industry in collaboration find methods to mature and reduce the cost of using fuels without emissions. Our goal is to contribute to this development,” says Svend Søyland, Senior Advisor at Nordic Energy Research.
Download the report Navigating Towards Cleaner Nordic Shipping: Lessons from the Nordic Region here
The report “Navigating Towards Cleaner Nordic Shipping: Lessons from the Nordic region” makes six recommendations:
- Increase the energy efficiency of new and existing ships
- Leverage public sector procurement to stimulate the electrification of short-distance shipping
- Introduce regulations on life cycle emissions of maritime fuels
- Put in place carbon pricing for shipping and policies that reduce the carbon content of shipping fuels
- Advance the discussion on market-based mechanisms at the International Maritime Organization
- Launch pilot projects to gain experience with new fuels and accelerate the adoption of safety guidelines
“In the Nordic countries, both government and the private sector provide strong leadership in environmental questions. Nordic governments have understood that support for environmentally friendly technology can stimulate employment in the maritime sector and ensure its competitiveness,” says Pierpaolo Cazzola, Project Leader for the report at the International Transport Forum.
Cazzola adds that state-funded research accompanied by industry partnerships and cluster initiatives often create innovative environments:
“Many schemes bring together multiple actors and ensure a full project cycle from research via the demonstration phase to market introduction and investment finance for customers willing to apply the new solution. This last step has been important to ensure that prototypes find their way into real-life application. It is an approach that holds many lessons for shipping nations seeking to decarbonise their fleet as quickly as possible.”