It has been estimated that by 2030, at least 5% of fuels used by international shipping must have zero lifecycle emissions to align decarbonisation with 2015 Paris Agreement objectives. Green shipping corridor initiatives are a vehicle to mobilise stakeholders across the shipping and fuel supply value chains to address the barriers to zero emissions fuel update. Significant investment in energy and fuel production infrastructure will be required globally to drive the transition away from fossil fuels.
As an existing energy producer with a skilled workforce and substantial land and natural resource availability, Canada is well placed to seize the opportunity to become a producer, or even exporter, of zero emissions fuels. Several corridor partnerships involving Canadian ports have been announced and Transport Canada has released a national Green Shipping Corridors Framework to guide and accelerate their implementation.
Oceans North, with the support of the Vancouver Maritime Centre for Climate, has commissioned Arup to undertake a preliminary assessment into the potential impact that green shipping corridors could have in Canada. The assessment is based on analysis from the Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub that estimated the potential development of low and zero emission fuel uptake under different scenarios at three case study ports – Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Halifax.