Green Technology and Alternative Fuels in Shipping
As one important way to reduce emissions from shipping the HELCOM Maritime Group has lately focused on enhanced regional cooperation on alternative fuels and green technology for ships. Such cooperation is central for the longer perspective and supplements MARPOL Annex VI measures and economic incentives e.g. as specified in HELCOM Recommendation 28E/13.
This work takes place in a dedicated sub-group (later named GREEN TEAM) under the MARITIME Working Group to promote public and private co-operation at national and Baltic Sea levels to enhance development and uptake of green technology and alternative fuels in shipping.
In March 2017 a new work program was adopted for the GREEN TEAM group which will launch new activities in green technology and alternative fuels in shipping.
This work on green technology and alternative fuels in shipping emerges from a wide cooperation with a number of other actors in the region to provide maximal momentum to the process.
Background
As one of first dedicated steps HELCOM organised a targeted event on alternative fuels and green technology in shipping together with the Northern Dimension Partnership on Transport and Logistics (NDPTL) in April 2013.
Later, in October 2013 the 2013 HELCOM Ministerial Meeting agreed on the creation of a targeted joint “Green Technology and Alternative Fuels Platform for Shipping” to speed up the process. The idea behind the platform is to gather national administrations, industry, research community and NGOs involved in green technologies and alternative fuels. The platform is also related to the activities around the “St. Petersburg initiative”, an international network to unite governmental, business and financing organizations for Baltic Sea cooperation established at the St. Petersburg summit April 2013.
The Green Technology and Alternative Fuels Platform for Shipping was launched on 16 january 2014 during an event which was organised by the Finnish Presidency of the Council of Baltic Sea States (CBSS) and HELCOM in cooperation with the Baltic Development Forum (BDF) and the Northern Dimension Partnership on Transport and Logistics (NDPTL).
These joint events produced on a joint set of concrete steps to speed up the use of green technologies for shipping in the Baltic which were compiled into a document called “Green Technology and Alternative Fuels Roadmap”.
To take the roadmap further HELCOM MARITIME 14-2014 endorsed and HOD-47-2014 established in December 2014 a new sub-group (later named GREEN TEAM) under the MARITIME Working Group to promote public and private co-operation at national and Baltic Sea levels to enhance development and uptake of green technology and alternative fuels in shipping.
