Collaboration and strong partnerships will be crucial for succeeding with the transition following IMO’s new climate strategy, Sveinung Oftedal states. He urges the Norwegian maritime industry to move swiftly after leading the negotiations that concluded with historic new emission goals.
Sveinung Oftedal reckons the Norwegian maritime industry is in a good position to succeed with the transition triggered by the new international climate strategy. Nevertheless, he stresses the importance of moving quickly and together.
This will be the topic when Oftedal opens Maritime CleanTech’s annual Innovation Workshop on August 31st.
– In the past, there hasn’t been a problem accessing shipping fuels; quantity has never been an issue. But looking ahead, there might be scarcity, whether it’s green ammonia, green methanol, or green hydrogen. If one waits too long and becomes isolated, it will be difficult. It’s essential to find strong partnerships to navigate this, says Oftedal.
Long negotiations
Early July this year, Oftedal, the Chief Negotiator for Green Shipping of the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment, led the IMO member states to an agreement on a revised strategy for reducing GHG emissions from ships, including a timeline and new emission goals.
– This was indeed a conclusion to a long negotiation, Oftedal confirms. – The starting points for the countries were very different, with everyone wanting different things. Some had extremely high ambitions, while others had very low ones. It was very important to me to achieve a final result that all countries could agree on, which turned out very well.
– So far, this is the climate agreement of the decade. Of course, this decade is still young, but I say this mainly because the Chinese agreed to a net-zero goal for 2050, and the Americans accepted that a “just and equitable transition” should be included as part of the vision. This was entirely new, and many moved quite far for this.
Ambitious plans
The revised strategy includes checkpoints for 2030 and 2040, leading to net-zero emissions by 2050. An implementation plan was also established to have the requirements for emission reductions ready by 2025, so they can take effect in 2027. Additionally, guidelines were set for assessing the life-cycle carbon footprint of the fuels used in shipping.
– For example, grey ammonia cannot be used; instead, green or blue ammonia must be used. These guidelines will be developed further, Oftedal explains.
Collaboration is key
– How important is it for stakeholders in the value chain to collaborate?
– It’s absolutely crucial. The change we’re going through will be defined by regional, national, and global regulations. Norwegian companies are likely to navigate the change well, however, there are significant players from other countries to compete against. I recently read that China has overtaken Greece to become the world’s largest ship-owning country. The possibilities for the Norwegian maritime industry are good, but you can’t be complacent. You must be early and have strong partnerships with commercial actors and regulators, such as the Norwegian Maritime Authority, says Oftedal.
Want to hear more from Sveinung Oftedal?
Partners across the maritime value chain, including the regulators, gather at Maritime CleanTech’s annual Innovation Workshop at Sola 31 August. – Limited seats left!