Ian TaylorAlthough the maritime industry has often been characterised as one of the ‘hard-to-abate’ sectors, Christopher J. Wiernicki, ABS Chairman, President and CEO, believes green corridors could be the gamechanger that will see shipping become a key driver for the energy transition.
Speaking at the Global Clean Energy Action Forum, Wiernicki maintained: ‘Green corridors have the potential to be more than just a test bed for shipping emission projects, they will tie into national clean energy transition strategies that will highlight shipping as a value enabler and the transport vehicle for the clean energy transition.’
Wiernicki told the Forum delegates that ‘green corridors represent a unique model of a successful public private partnership that recognises that in the end success to get to net zero on time and on target will be a team sport’.
The shipping industry, explained the ABS CEO, is ‘diverse, disaggregated and globally regulated’ – but green corridors ‘help to shrink the challenge of coordination between fuel infrastructure and vessels, within the value chain and between regions, down to a more manageable size while retaining scale’.
But in order to help the strategy reach its full potential Wiernicki argued that: ‘We need a green corridor playbook to address key performance indicators, common language, data and risk management. This will help in putting together the right policies, financial incentives and regulations. Green corridors will help us determine the right balance between managing risks and achieving business success.’
Aligning green corridors with clean energy strategies will be key.
‘In order for us collectively to achieve our net-zero outcome by 2050,’ said Wiernicki, ‘green corridors have to be much more than a series of disconnected shipping decarbonisation projects. In a broader context, green corridors must become a critical organising framework connecting low- and zero-carbon shipping to broader regional, national and international decarbonisation initiatives. They have to be tied into national clean energy strategies.’
Importantly, Wiernicki called for more ‘structure around measuring and reporting to provide clear, consistent data’.
‘This will require development of a framework for independent verification and certification to demonstrate maturity levels, with an ongoing mechanism for maintaining and sharing data,’ continued Wiernicki. ‘In turn, this will require verification, particularly of carbon metrics, to ensure ongoing transparency and reliability of data.’
Image: Shutterstock
Ariane Morrissey
