Norwegian shipowners have taken a huge step forward in carbon neutral shipping after the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association announced that its members have set a goal to have the entire Norwegian fleet carbon neutral by 2050.
The association and owners have set four goals along the way to achieving their objective. First is that emissions should be cut by 50% by 2030, then from 2030 Norwegian owners will only order ships based on zero emissions technology. From 2050, the entire fleet will be carbon neutral, and lastly there will be a push to include an international ban on non-carbon neutral ships from 2050.
Harald Solberg, CEO of the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association, said: “Norwegian shipping is leading the way in setting high ambitions for the development of new and profitable green technology.
“We have high ambitions, even in areas that today do not have commercially available technological solutions. We believe ambitious goals will help accelerate the necessary development. This means that the entire industry, in collaboration with the authorities, both nationally and internationally, must engage in developing new solutions.”
The strategy was presented to Norway’s prime minister Erna Solberg in Oslo yesterday.
IMO set a goal for shipping to halve its emissions by 2050, however many have now made plans to surpass this by becoming carbon neutral by 2050. Prior to the Norwegian Shipowner’s Association, Maersk set the more ambitious target of getting to carbon neutral by 2050, as has Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) who in addition became the world’s first net zero line in the meantime by using carbon credits.
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