Amazon, IKEA among shippers demanding decarbonised vessels by 2040

Aspen Institute Director, Shipping Decarbonisation Initiative, Indrid Irigoyen cited "a perceived lack of freight customer demand" as one of elements holding back maritime’s ongoing attempts to move away from fossil fuels.

The stumbling block, she said, "has stifled investment and scalability of potential solutions".

The coZEV coalition said it is aiming to remove that stumbling block, and Ms Irigoyen said a collaborative effort by the retailers involved "will allow us to drive economies of scale, innovation, and a surge of confidence among investors and value-chain actors that there is a business opportunity in doing the right thing".

Looking beyond the shipping industry, the coalition added its voice to calls for governments and regulators to bring policy to bear in shipping’s decarbonisation transition.

Noting that "market forces alone will not bring these solutions to scale", coZEV said signatories backing the 2040 target date "are also calling on policymakers around the world to take swift and ambitious action to advance maritime shipping decarbonisation — in their domestic, regional, and international leadership capacities".

Net-Zero Carbon at Amazon director Edgar Blanco said, “We are thrilled to co-launch this much-needed initiative aimed to help switch ocean freight to vessels powered by zero-carbon fuels. The time to act is now and we welcome other cargo owner companies who want to lead on addressing climate change to join us in collaboration.”

Riviera’s two-day Maritime Air Pollution Conference Asia returns Tuesday 30 November - Wednesday 1 December to Singapore as a live event.