If the shipping industry were a country, it would be the sixth largest greenhouse gas polluter in the world, on a par with Germany. But the emission reduction target set by the UN’s International Maritime Organization [IMO] — a 50% cut from 2008 levels by 2050 — is only half of what’s needed, zero emissions by 2050, just to limit global warming to 2°C. To align with a 1.5°C scenario, zero emissions would have to be reached a decade earlier, by 2040. Which is why Pacific Environment and Opportunity Green released a nine9 point “Ports Playbook for Zero-Emission Shipping” to accelerate the pace of progress, in conjunction with Climate Week NYC 2022.
“The IMO has been woefully inadequate at creating regulations that move us on a trajectory that’s commensurate with the climate emergency and with our need to reduce emissions,” playbook co-author Allyson Browne, told Random Lengths. “And so if the IMO won’t do it, I think that ports should.” This focus on what ports can do — and their responsibilities — is in line with the recent Economic Roundtable Report, “Someone Else’s Ocean,” which argues that ports are public property and have an obligation to benefit the public beyond just turning a profit.
The industry itself is also out of step. “Unfortunately, at present, there are more than 676 new ships on order — and almost every one of them will run on fossil fuels — locking in emissions for decades,” the playbook notes. But if ports work together, that can change.
“Ports should find a way to collaborate with one another, and create a framework that really sends that market signal to the shipping value chain that this transition is underway and that we’re going to achieve zero [emissions] as possible, ideally by 2040, and that’s the only way we get there,” Browne said. “We can’t do it without collaboration, and we can’t do it without labor support, and support for a clean and just transition, and we need to make sure the community is involved first and foremost because these communities are the lifeblood and the heartbeat of these ports. These ports would not be able to function without the community.”
The playbook is divided into three parts, commitments, policy and progress. “We wanted to break that action plan into easily digestible buckets,” Browne explained. “So the first is commitments, specific high-level targets that the ports can make.” The three commitments are: zero emissions shipping by 2040, create or join green shipping corridors, and abandon all fossil-fuel projects.
The first commitment is the most detailed. It requires the creation and implementation of a zero-emission action plan “(co-designed with the local community)” that includes six elements encompassing greenhouse gas emissions targets, other air and water pollution targets, berth electrification, “ A jobs plan demonstrating how the port will contribute to the development of local zero-emission maritime-related careers,” and more. In addition to targets, it calls for the creation of roadmaps and timelines, to ensure that progress is being made on schedule.
In the second bucket, “The policy section really lays out different policy approaches that ports can take to implement and enforce those commitments,” Browne explained. The three policies are: set mandatory zero-emission standards for all ships calling at port, reward first movers and attract the world’s cleanest ships, and implement environmental and& ecological protection, preservation and resiliency measures that support pollution and emissions reductions.
“Finally progress,” Browne said, meaning “the short-term immediate measures that the ports can take based on technology that’s available today.” These are: electrify everything, provide clean energy and reliable fueling for zero-emission cargo ships, and center community and maritime worker involvement and support in the port’s zero-emission action plan.
The playbook was praised by homeowner activist Janet Gunter, an original plaintiff in the landmark China Shipping lawsuit. “I am very grateful for this comprehensive and aggressive effort to confront the massive volume of emissions that are dramatically affecting both the planet and our people from the shipping industry,” Gunter said. “I think that the report very successfully underscores how critical the need is to take immediate action.”
But she was justifiably concerned about accountability (the Port of LA is still failing to implement China Shipping mitigations 18 years after the initial settlement).
“This notion of simply getting ports to endorse these changes never seems to buy us much,” Gunter said. “If there is no oversight .or hammer in place that catches infractions and responds to it immediately the progress (if any) will be slow and inadequate.”
The playbook’s scope is international, and governance structures vary widely around the world, so the lack of specific recommendations on this score is understandable. Another problem is that progress on one front obscures inaction — or worse — in other areas. The ports of LA and Long Beach are featured in the playbook as participants in the first green corridor partnership with Shanghai, for example, even as a multitude of other problems persist.
But the need for accountability was recognized, Browne said. “It’s one thing to make a commitment, it’s another thing to actually implement all of the policies, infrastructure, energy projects that are needed to actually get these corridors to zero.” And the same goes for the whole of the playbook. So, “What we’re doing next is turning this framework into like a scorecard for ports, based on their commitment and action plans and implementations of the policies that we lay out in this framework,” she said. “We’ll be evaluating ports on meeting these targets, meeting this trajectory, and based on them actually implementing these various steps.” The first scorecard is due to be issued at the next UN Climate summit, COP27, in November.
But one hopeful signal came just the day after the scorecard was issued. Retail giant Target, headquartered in Minneapolis, announced it was joining other big retailers, including Amazon and IKEA, in making a commitment to move its products off of fossil-fueled ships by 2040, as part of the Aspen Institute’s Cargo Owners for Zero Emission Vessels initiative. This came just a week after Minneapolis became the third city (after Los Angeles and Long Beach) to pass a Ship It Zero resolution, calling on ocean import polluters to commit to using 100% zero-emission ships by 2030.
This kind of multifaceted pressure is vital. “We need strong governmental action and investment to bring about clean shipping, as well as businesses that are reliant on goods movement, such as shippers and large retailers, to step up and expedite the transition to cleaner, healthier technologies,” said Chris Chavez, deputy Policy director at Coalition for Clean Air.
“While we appreciate Target and other leading retailers taking a step in the right direction, we urge them to take even more bold, more immediate actions to reduce pollution.”
Crucially, such commitments can change shipping companies’ decisions in ordering new ships, especially in combination with the second policy, “reward first movers and attract the world’s cleanest ships,” which the playbook explains as, “Assess fees based on IMO ship tiers, pollution and GHG emissions. This can be achieved by reducing wharfage rates or docking fees for zero-emission cargo ships (e.g., ships running on renewable electricity, wind propulsion, batteries and green hydrogen-based fuels) and/or increasing fees for the dirtiest ships.”
“The best way to progress on this most quickly is international collaboration,” Browne said. “We need ports to align on their commitment, on their policies, on their progress.” The playbook lays out just how that can be done.
Click to download the Playbook.