Port of Los Angeles, Port of Shanghai, and C40 Cities announce partnership to create world’s first transpacific green shipping corridor between ports in the United States and China
The Port of Los Angeles, Port of Shanghai, and C40 Cities will work with leading industry partners to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the movement of cargo throughout the 2020s including a goal to begin transitioning to zero-carbon fuelled ships by 2030 in a bid to slash emissions from one of the world’s busiest cargo routes, according to the Port of Los Angeles's release.
The two ports and industry partners, including shipping lines, and cargo owners in China and the United States have committed to deliver an implementation plan for the green corridor by the end of 2022 that will provide an outline for how they will continue to decarbonise this key maritime shipping corridor.
Los Angeles and Shanghai have announced a partnership of cities, ports, shipping companies and a network of cargo owners to create a first-of-its-kind green shipping corridor on one of the world’s busiest container shipping routes.
Convened by C40 Cities and the ports of Shanghai and Los Angeles, and including key maritime stakeholders, this partnership has agreed to work on an initiative to establish a Green Shipping Corridor to decarbonise goods movement between the largest ports in the United States and China.
The partnership intends to work together to achieve these goals by developing a “Green Shipping Corridor Implementation Plan” by the end of the 2022 calendar year that will include deliverables, milestones, and roles for the partnership.
Key decarbonisation goals for the Green Shipping Corridor partnership include:
The phasing in of low, ultra-low, and zero-carbon fuelled ships through the 2020s, with the world’s first zero-carbon trans-Pacific container ships introduced by 2030 by qualified and willing shipping lines.
The development of best management practices to help reduce emissions and improve efficiency for all ships using this international trade corridor.
Reducing supply chain emissions from port operations, improving air quality in the ports of Shanghai and Los Angeles and adjacent communities.
The City of Shanghai, the City of Los Angeles, the Port of Shanghai (through the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission), the Port of Los Angeles and C40 Cities initiated this Green Shipping Corridor partnership. Participating partners include A.P. Moller – Maersk, CMA CGM, Shanghai International Ports Group (SIPG), COSCO Shipping Lines, the Aspen Institute’s Shipping Decarbonisation Initiative, facilitators of Cargo Owners for Zero Emission Vessels (coZEV) and the Maritime Technology Cooperation Centre – Asia.
The global shipping industry is responsible for 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Worldwide, greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping industry are expected to double by 2050. Establishing green shipping corridors is critical to enabling the early adoption of long-term decarbonisation solutions for international shipping, especially along major routes. The trans-pacific corridor is the busiest container shipping lane globally. In 2020, ships moved 31.2 million 20-foot equivalent unit containers – 21% of the world’s total – across the Pacific Ocean (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, 2021). For the past 20 years, the Port of Los Angeles has been the busiest container port in the Western Hemisphere; its top trading partner is China in terms of cargo volume. In terms of container throughput, the Port of Shanghai is the world’s largest port.
