Mapping out a more sustainable future for shipping

Shipping generates nearly three per cent of global CO2 emissions. While there are some reasonably straightforward ways to cut these, the sector’s interdependencies with other hard-to-abate industries, such as mining or steel production, complicate matters. As RAM GANESH KAMATHAM explains, addressing these issues requires a system-wide approach to sustainability.

The most visible part of a ship’s lifecycle is the time it spends on the water. The sustainability challenges of this phase are widely known: greenhouse gases and pollutants emitted during voyages, and accidents and ship strikes that can harm ecosystems and wildlife. Arctic-specific challenges, such as the risks associated with black carbon or whale strikes in blue corridors, are also clearly linked to shipping operations.

Less apparent are the sustainability aspects of building ships in the first place and scrapping them at the ends of their service lives. Both of these phases involve embodied carbon, among other things (see box below).

The decisions that manufacturers make when building new ships—such as incorporating energy-efficiency technologies, ensuring compatibility with low-carbon fuels, and designing quieter propulsion—can play a significant role in the future of sustainable shipping. When ships are finally sent to scrapyards, different challenges arise, including the need to dispose of hazardous materials, prevent groundwater contamination, and ensure humane working conditions. (Modern ships have a lifespan of 25 to 30 years before corrosion, metal fatigue and a lack of parts render them uneconomical to operate.)

Given all these factors, a definition of “sustainable shipping” can seem elusive. However, leaving out pieces of the puzzle to simplify the definition risks painting an incomplete picture. For example, excluding the roles of ports or the banking and finance sector from the understanding of sustainability in shipping leads to a partial understanding of the problem. A broad and shared vision of what “good” looks like is a crucial step towards accelerating change across the sector.

A roadmap for sustainability in shipping

In 2016, the Sustainable Shipping Initiative—a community that focuses on engaging with new and emerging sustainability challenges—developed a roadmap representing a holistic view of shipping sustainability. Members of the initiative span the maritime industry and include major shipping companies, banks, ship classification societies, charterers, maritime service providers, ship recycling yards and NGOs focused on shipping issues.

The roadmap depicts six interconnected areas for the industry and other interested parties to collaborate on: oceans, communities, people, transparency, finance and energy. In 2023, we launched a horizon-scanning programme to continuously update the roadmap with topics that could influence the sustainability landscape.

Our roadmap serves not only as a shared vision to inspire and influence the maritime industry, but also as a tool to measure its progress towards sustainability. In addition, efforts are underway to expand the milestones for each of the six areas by including topic-specific indicators to track their yearly progress. The roadmap also aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and, increasingly, the recognized nine planetary boundaries within which humanity can continue to thrive for generations to come.

Research and pragmatism

The Sustainable Shipping Initiative takes a pragmatic approach to sustainability. This means motivated companies participate in working groups to tackle sustainability-related topics. For example, right now, we are researching how to make “green” steel (steel manufactured without the use of fossil fuels) more attractive to shipbuilders and ultimately reduce ships’ lifecycle emissions. This includes making decisions that will affect the choice of steel for new builds, impacts during ship maintenance, and the flow of scrap steel in secondary markets to boost the material’s overall circularity.

Companies that prioritize sustainability are drawn to the Sustainable Shipping Initiative because of the holistic approach to current and future challenges. Improving sustainability also requires a certain amount of willingness to engage with complexity and uncertainty. Cross-sectoral perspectives are also important because innovation and learning can be shared to accelerate change. The initiative, through its forums and roadmap, serves as a vital resource to support decision-making.

The shipping sector is making progress towards sustainability in key areas. Although much remains to be done, investing in sustainable solutions now will benefit the sector, society and the planet in the long term.