After the United Arab Emirates and Canada, Panama, Uruguay and Norway have also decided to join the Clean Energy Marine Hub Initiative (CEM-Hubs), a cross-sector public-private initiative that aims to accelerate the production, export and import of low-carbon fuels worldwide.
The announcement came as part of the Green Shipping Challenge launch event during the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference, also known as COP27.
Led by the US and Norway, the Green Shipping Challenge aims to bring together governments, ports, shipping carriers, and ship owners to find decarbonization solutions for the industry.
CEM-Hubs is coordinated with the support of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) and the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM).
According to a Norwegian government spokesperson, the scale of the global decarbonization challenge is enormous and the maritime sector needs to accelerate the use of green fuels and technologies . He stressed that by seizing the opportunity to work with ports, ship owners, energy suppliers his country and other governments at COP are sending a clear signal to others that there are now opportunities for action rather than words.
Speaking in Sharm El-Sheikh after the announcement, Emanuele Grimaldi, President of ICS, commented that one year after COP26, there is still a lot of talk about the production of hydrogen and other low-carbon fuels, but very little about how this will actually be achieved. “This is why this initiative is so crucial, because it brings together the entire energy value chain to ensure that the production, transport and use of net zero emission fuels becomes a reality.’”
Translation by Giles Foster
