The video, published by Global Maritime Forum, focuses on decarbonization, one of the key issues highlighted at the Global Maritime Issues Monitor 2018 report, launched in conjunction with the Forum’s Annual Summit in Hong Kong in October 2018. The main finding was that viable solutions to decarbonization are still perceived as something that will only be found beyond the 10-year horizon of the Issue Monitor.
The first industry report of its kind, the Global Maritime Issues Monitor 2018, takes a global look at the major issues that are likely to impact the global maritime industry over the next 10 years. The Global Maritime Issues Monitor 2018 is based on a survey of senior maritime leaders from more than 50 countries on their perceptions of 17 major issues, specifically on their impact and likelihood and the industry’s preparedness for them.
The report highlights that, as other sectors decarbonize and trade continues to grow at a steady clip, shipping’s share of global GHG emissions will continue to disproportionally increase, and the maritime industry’s role in addressing climate concerns thus cannot be overlooked.
Improving the energy efficiency of vessels and deciding on a strategy to reduce GHG emissions are two very important first steps on the path towards decarbonizing the maritime sector.
It should therefore come as no surprise that ‘energy efficiency’ and ‘choice of emissions reduction technologies and strategies’ are the two issues maritime leaders ranked as most impactful and most likely to influence the sector in the next 10 years.
‘Energy efficiency’ was also among the issues with the best preparedness score, which could reflect the fact that the industry has been working on improving energy efficiency for a number of years and is preparing for the implementation of the necessary measures in this field.
This seems to be confirmed by our results on ‘slow steaming’, which received the best preparedness score of the section. The ‘choice of emissions reduction technologies and strategies’, on the other hand, is an issue which the industry feels less prepared to take charge of.
This could be explained by the fact that none of the competing technological alternatives to fossil fuels are currently seen as sufficiently mature or cost-effective.
Nevertheless, the strong desire of the maritime industry to play an active role in addressing climate change was also presented by the launch of a Call for Action that has been signed by 34 CEOs and industry leaders from across the global maritime industry.
The maritime sector has already made decisions, so the impacts will show in the next decade. But regarding preparedness, maritime professionals seem unsure whether their company has made the right emissions reductions decisions,
…said Christine Loh of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and former Under Secretary for the Environment in Hong Kong.
