Green Shipping Community Workshop Draws A Crowd

The nonprofit organizations Pacific Environment and C40 Cities, in cooperation with the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, hosted a Green Shipping Community Workshop today. The community event drew 90 participants and provided information on global and local shipping sector decarbonization initiatives, showcased a panel discussion with local leaders about their vision for a cleaner and greener port, and facilitated a question and answer session for the community to engage with the panelists.

The panelists discussed the definition of green corridors, what green corridor commitments have been made and how each organization plays a role in moving shipping to zero-emissions. The panelists spoke about the concerns of climate change and how to move towards decarbonizing ocean cargo shipping in the face of the climate change crisis and emphasized the need to limit shipping emissions to keep in the range of a 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) global temperature rise.

Industry presenters METRANS, American Bureau of Shipping and the Rocky Mountain Institute shared their perspectives on the future of decarbonized freight transportation, the clean energy transition, and California’s ARCHES Hydrogen Hub program that was recently awarded $1.2 billion of Federal funding. Approximately 40% of total benefits from ARCHES projects are expected to flow to California’s disadvantaged communities. Pacific Environment and C40 Cities also presented on the Ports of People campaign, and the role that Cities can play in port decarbonization. These groups engaged in direct dialogue with community members to address specific topics and questions.

Additionally, speakers discussed the Greenhouse Gas Strategy recently adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) which in July failed to agree on absolute emission reduction targets for 2030 and 2040. The IMO identified “indicative checkpoints” of at least 20%, striving for 30% emission reduction by 2030, and at least 70%, striving for 80% reduction by 2040. While this brings shipping closer to the Paris Agreement’s goal, it is far from sufficient to ensure shipping contributes its fair share to limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5°C, which would require emissions to peak before 2025, halve by 2030 and reach zero by 2040,  and will see shipping exceed its 1.5°C  carbon budget between 2032 and 2033.

Ninety percent of all goods travel by ship—both for the U.S. and globally.  Greenhouse gas emissions from maritime shipping account for 3% of total global emissions and are projected to increase rapidly over the coming years, up to 17% by 2050 in our increasingly globalized economy. If international shipping was a country, it would rank sixth on the list of largest greenhouse gas emitters globally.

Statements from participating organizations: 

“We thank the Port of Los Angeles, Port of Long Beach, City of Los Angeles, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, for participating in our Green Shipping Community Workshop,” said Dawny’all Heydari, Climate Campaign Manager, Advocacy for Pacific Environment. “Charting a course towards a sustainable future in the face of the climate crisis and the public health emergency at the ports, must include commitments from the cargo shipping industry to successfully meet our Paris Agreement targets. We applaud the green corridor commitments by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and look forward to working with them closely to implement their ambition and achieve a zero-emission future.”

“Reducing emissions from the shipping industry is a critical part of achieving global climate goals and preventing a climate crisis,” said Alisa Kreynes, Head of Ports & Shipping, C40 Cities. “The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are forging an exciting path forward with work that is reducing emissions, creating jobs, and yielding benefits to the world and the local community alike. C40 is glad to partner with Pacific Environment and industry leaders to engage local residents and ensure this work continues to advance a green and equitable economy.”

“The Port of Los Angeles appreciates Pacific Environment hosting a community workshop to help stakeholders understand the importance of Green Shipping Corridors and the plans we are developing with major ports around the world,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. “Through agreements with other ports and their partners, we’re collaborating to deploy the most advanced equipment, technologies, fuels and management practices for decarbonizing cargo operations from origin to destination. This will provide benefit not only to our local communities but the environment as a whole.”

Media Contacts:

Gwen Dobbs, Pacific Environment, 202-329-9295 (pacific time), gdobbs@pacificenvironment.org

Gabriel Lewenstein, C40 Cities, glewenstein@c40.org

###