How to make the transition resilient and equitable

Katharine Palmer, Climate Champion’s Shipping Lead looks ahead to the actions and outcomes for 2022 and explains why this is one race where nobody gets left behind

My key priorities for 2022? One of the priorities is road-mapping for Green Corridors. There is a lot of momentum post-COP26, when 22 countries signed the Clydebank Declaration supporting the establishment of Green Corridors. Dialogue is now progressing among the signatories and private sector actors, who are working out how and where they want to start. And public - private consortia are coming together.

My role is to support mobilising non-state actor action. In the context of Green Corridors, this means providing support and bringing together consortia with stakeholders from the full value chain, supporting the tools needed to establish and monitor the success of Green Corridors and providing a coordinating role across activities and sharing learnings and best practice.

Diversity is also key. We need to ensure Green Corridors aren’t just in developed countries and they include least-developed countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDs). COP27 is taking place in Egypt so it’s important to make sure that Africa is engaged. I’d like to think that there will be some announcements in the first half of this year.

Equitable for all

At COP26 we also announced the creation of the Just Transition maritime task force. Phase One will focus on understanding what this means for the maritime workforce and setting out a green skills roadmap for seafarers operating zero-emission ships and ensuring these skills are accessible to all. We also need to ensure that the transition is equitable as we look to shape greenhouse policy that is fair and just for all.

The other focus, for both myself and the other champions, is resilience. So far, shipping’s decarbonisation has focused on mitigation and reducing shipping’s own greenhouse gas emissions but shipping isn’t just about the ship at sea anymore. It’s also about the connectivity with the shore, the ports, the coastal communities and the wider ocean society. We need resilient coastal communities, resilient ports and infrastructure.

Some coastal communities are already being impacted today so we need to put resilience right at the heart of shipping’s decarbonisation programme. That means producing blueprints for resilient coastal communities, whether that’s around investment in nature-based solutions, in coastal communities or in the ports in these coastal communities. Port infrastructure needs to be resilient too, because of changing sea levels and weather patterns. And changing roles also; ports are the interface between clean energy production, for example offshore wind, for domestic power and will also be in a position to convert this renewable electricity into green hydrogen which can be used in the shipping industry as energy.

A race where we are all winners

As we transition to zero, not everyone will move at the same pace. But that’s not to say that those who aren’t the first movers won’t benefit. They will see the benefits from those who have, and learn from that transfer of knowledge, the development of technology and the scaling of supply and technology. With a breakthrough target of 5% of zero-carbon fuels for international shipping by 2030, we know that liner routes could be a good example of a first mover, alongside some niche trade routes. Carriers that are transporting the potential energy sources as cargo could also move first. And although those organisations that are bigger may move faster, the size of an organisation or consolidation in the sector doesn’t dictate progress. My role is focused on ensuring that we have a Just Transition so that no-one gets left behind, everyone benefits, and there’s no disproportionate impact on any one organisation or country, irrespective of size. 

My advice to anybody not yet immersed in shipping’s transition to zero is to become part of the dialogue and to set your own strategy, targets and commitments. Don’t wait for this to happen. Become part of enabling the transition by sharing the findings and learnings from your pilot projects. Many of the solutions for shipping will be relevant to other sectors. Become part of the solution. 

I’d like to highlight the expertise across the IMarEST Special Interest groups and working groups specifically related to greenhouse gas emissions, whether that’s from a policy, technology or safe-use perspective. The Institute is really well-positioned, and has a real opportunity, to be that scientific and technical leader in the climate change and decarbonisation space. Not just to the shipping sector but across the whole supply chain from the production of energy to the use of energy in maritime, and across the stakeholders from industry to government and policy-makers to ensure we get the enabling frameworks and regulation that are needed to drive the change and obviously the IMarEST has the engineering expertise to put this into effect.

Katharine Palmer CSci CMarSci FIMarEST is co-chair of the IMarEST Technical Leadership Board and Global Head of Sustainability with LR’s Marine & Offshore business. In July 2021, Katharine was appointed United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) High-Level Climate Champion (HLCC) Shipping Lead, supporting the shipping industry's drive towards decarbonisation.