BUTTIGIEG SAYS US 'GREEN CORRIDORS' INITIATIVE IS KEY TO CUTTING SHIPPING INDUSTRY EMISSIONS

An American push to establish "green shipping corridors" is key to reducing carbon emissions from the shipping industry, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said this week while touring the port of Yokohama near Tokyo.

Buttigieg was in Japan to attend a meeting over the weekend of transport ministers of the Group of Seven advanced economies, who reaffirmed a commitment to reducing emissions from the transport industry and to keeping navigation free and open in the Asia-Pacific region.

The U.S. is seeking to develop and strengthen partnerships with “like-minded countries” to improve maritime security and keep shipping and aviation corridors open, he told in an interview.

Emissions from maritime transport account for about 3% of total global emissions from human activities. Some 40% of Yokohama’s emissions come from its port.

About 90% of all traded goods are moved by sea, and maritime trade volumes are expected to triple by 2050, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Studies predict the industry’s share of greenhouse gas emissions could reach 15%. That has added urgency to efforts to cut such pollution.

The International Maritime Organization, which regulates commercial shipping, wants to halve its greenhouse gas releases by midcentury and may seek deeper cuts this year.

The Port of Los Angeles signed an agreement in March with port authorities of Yokohama and Tokyo to establish the so-called green shipping corridors, aiming to promote emissions reductions through use of net-zero emissions vessels and other efforts to reduce the flow of greenhouse gases from ports and shipping.