Greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping sector are significant and rising. On their current trajectory, these emissions would be incompatible with the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement. If shipping were a country, the sector would rank among the top 10 largest emitters globally.

The United States and Norway are leading the Green Shipping Challenge to encourage governments, ports, and companies to commit to further ambition and to spur the global transition to green shipping.

On December 1, during the World Climate Action Summit of COP 28, Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry chaired a new round of announcements under the Green Shipping Challenge; this year’s event was also co-hosted by Denmark and France. Prime Minister Frederiksen (Denmark), Prime Minister Rabuka (Fiji), among other country ministers and high-level private sector leaders, joined the Green Shipping Challenge event.

This year, the Challenge featured new facets of action, including announcements on the just transition of the workforce in the context of maritime decarbonization; announcements that support the implementation of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) 2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships (2023 IMO GHG Strategy) in developing countries, in particular small island developing states (SIDS) and least developed countries (LDCs); and making new public-private commitments to action on green shipping.

Countries, ports, and companies made more than 60 major announcements or updates to announcements on issues such as new green shipping corridors; integration of new zero and near-zero emission fuels and technologies; new training frameworks for seafarers on new maritime fuels; and supporting the overall implementation of the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy long-term goal and indicative checkpoints.
Source: Green Shipping Challenge