Fuelling the Future of Shipping | WEF
The global shipping industry facilitates the movement of 80% of goods around the world, but
also accounts for 2–3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. We need to eliminate these emissions
through the scaling of technologies that can power deep-sea vessels.
When the First Movers Coalition (FMC) was launched in 2021, shipping was one of the first four
hard-to-abate sectors included (along with aviation, steel and trucking). Momentum has continued to
grow as our members have started to move from commitment to action.
Many FMC companies are taking bold action, including orders for dual-fuel vessels, offtakes
of zero-emission fuels and agreements to move cargo on zero-emission vessels. Despite all this
positive momentum, our FMC shipping members have highlighted barriers in the maritime value
chain and beyond that hinder decarbonization from progressing at the speed needed.
The nexus between demand and supply is an important dynamic: a stronger demand signal
increases confidence to invest in the supply side, whereas conversely demand confidence is
diminished by difficulties in securing zero-emission shipping fuel supply. While the FMC was launched
to strengthen the credible demand signal, it is apparent that more needs to be done to overcome
the barriers hindering projects seeking to scale zero-emission fuel supply to the final investment
decision (FID) stage.
