Green Corridors: Concept to Reality

Ingrid Irigoyen, Director, Aspen Institute and Facilitator of the Cargo Owners for Zero Emissions Vessels (coZEV) initiative, said cargo owners’ voices were not being adequately represented in discussions around zero carbon shipping. Cargo owners want zero-carbon shipping, and it is important to give confidence to the market that there is a customer at the end of the value chain for the zero carbon transition to happen, she underlined.

The coZEV initiative is working to bring cargo owners together, aggregate demand and deploy demand, and all of that is in support of green corridors. Collaboration and working together are vital, she said.

“The concept of green corridors needs to be aligned with cargo owners’ interests. coZEV provides them with information about green corridor concepts, she said. “Most companies don’t have dedicated staff for vessel decarbonisation, so it is one of the services we can provide – making it easier for them.”

The current situation, said Irigoyen, is that while a cargo owner might choose net zero commitments regarding maritime transport, “there is nothing they can do except pay a premium for biofuel.

”It is important to ensure that the transition to zero-carbon fuels is smooth and affordable, and – after the disruption of the past two years – doesn’t result in more disruption, she said. 

“Price and reliability will probably still be king for some while but we want the climate impact to be internalised – and this is happening in some companies.”

However, she noted, the year-to-year contracting model for container freight “is not going to get us there”.

“You are going to need to see more multi-year contracts for zero emission shipping, because that is the only way to underpin the whole value chain of investment that needs to happen. We have seen a little bit more multi-year contracting in the past couple of years – not climate driven, but we can harness that breaking of the mould, to think about those longer-term commitments that will provide carriers, shipowners, fuel producers and investors with the confidence that there is a customer at the end of this value chain that wants this and is going to do their part.

”Ports can take steps, she concluded – for example, by thinking about what kind of incentives they are providing for cargo owners to help them make their contribution. “For example, if they are paying a premium for zero-emission – is all they get GHG reduction? Could they get a fast lane to the berth? Could they get offloaded faster, to enable them to be inspired?”