Norway Releases Action Plan for Green Shipping

(Maritime Executive) Norway has released an action plan for green shipping, saying that its maritime industry is a world leader in the development of low- and zero-emission solutions. The Government’s ambition is to reduce emissions from domestic shipping and fishing vessels by half by 2030. The report notes that with current technology, maritime transport is generally the most energy efficient mode of transport. Additionally, tire wear is the largest direct source of microplastics in Norway, and about half of all microplastics end up in the sea. If a shift in freight transport from road to sea helps to reduce the total volume of road traffic, it will be an important means of reducing the spread of microplastics.

The Government has stated that its ambition is for 30 percent of goods transported over distances of more than 300 kilometers to be transferred from road to rail and sea by 2030. According to the Norwegian Environment Agency, this could give an the accumulated reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector of about 1.5 million tonnes CO2-eq over the period 2021–2030.

As increasing the use of biodiesel and biogas may be an important means of achieving the aim of halving emissions from domestic shipping by 2030, the Ministry of Climate and Environment has asked the Norwegian Environment Agency, in cooperation with the Norwegian Maritime Authority, to review the possibility and consequences of introducing a biofuel quota obligation for sustainable biodiesel and biogas for shipping.