What does a sustainable ocean economy look like by 2030? The World Ocean Initiative assesses industries including seafood, shipping, tourism and renewable energy in its latest report. It also claims:

"Decarbonising the global shipping fleet is the greatest sustainability challenge facing shipping companies, creating a trillion-dollar opportunity for investment in zero-carbon fuel and engine technologies to 2030 and beyond. In doing so, the industry has a pivotal role to play in decarbonising energy use in the wider economy."

The problem is that there is no consensus in the shipping industry over which low-carbon alternative fuel to switch to. For transporting cargo long distances across the ocean, ammonia appears to be the front-runner. Alternative low- and zero-carbon fuels are 2-3 times as expensive as heavy fuel oil. A price on carbon is probably one of the best ways to close that gap.

To fully decarbonise shipping by 2050, investment totalling $1.4trn-1.9trn is needed, mostly in the fuels supply chain developing low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia. Sustainably produced hydrogen is likely to have many additional uses in a greener economy.

Shipping has potential to be a catalyst that brings scale to the deployment of zero-emission fuels and enable a broader energy transition in other sectors

Johannah Christensen

Managing director,

Global Maritime Forum