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Ports of LA, Long Beach, Shanghai plan green shipping corridor
Sustainability Sep 23, 2023
| Image courtesy of C40 Cities
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The ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Shanghai, as well as leading cargo owners, unveiled a plan Friday for the creation of the first-ever green shipping program across the Pacific Ocean.
The Green Shipping Corridor Implementation Plan Outline is intended to accelerate emissions reductions on one of the world’s busiest container shipping routes, according to a statement from the Port of Los Angeles. The plan is the “first of its kind” and it was developed with support from C40 Cities — a network of nearly 100 mayors of the world’s leading cities working on addressing the climate crisis — as part of its efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
“This trans-Pacific green corridor will be a model for the global cooperation needed to accelerate change throughout the maritime industry. Reducing emissions in this corridor will yield substantial reductions,” Port of LA CEO Gene Seroka said in a statement.
“For perspective, most of the emissions associated with moving cargo by ship occur in the mid-ocean part of the journey between ports. This corridor will help reduce mid-ocean emissions while continuing the work we have done to cut emissions within our ports.”
As part of the plan, the carrier partners will begin deploying reduced or zero-lifecycle carbon-capable ships on the corridor by 2025, and work together to demonstrate by 2030 the feasibility of deploying the world’s first zero-lifecycle carbon-emission container ships.
“This initiative will drive emissions reductions across the world’s largest ocean and lead to greener practices from supply chain participants along these vial trade routes,” Mario Cordero, Port of Long Beach CEO, said in a statement. “The new and innovative vessel technologies, increased availability of sustainable fuels and better practices created through this green corridor will also impact society’s transition to a cleaner future far beyond the areas served by our ports.”
Participants of the Green Shipping Corridor Partnership will take steps to reduce carbon emissions and harmful pollutant emissions impacting air quality, through methods such as expanding use of shore power and supporting the development of clean marine fueling infrastructure.
Cargo owner partners have set goals to contract with carriers to use zero lifecycle carbon emission shipping services, and in an effort to measure progress toward decarbonization.
“C40 is proud to support this first-of-its-kind green shipping corridor aimed at demonstrating that zero-carbon shipping at scale is feasible by 2030, and that less polluting ships and ports will also mean cleaner air, less noise and more jobs for local communities,” Mark Watts, executive director of C40, said in a statement.
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