Getting to Zero Coalition

The Getting to Zero Coalition is a powerful alliance of more than 200 organizations (including 160 companies) within the maritime, energy, infrastructure and finance sectors, supported by key governments and IGOs. The Coalition is committed to getting commercially viable deep sea zero emission vessels powered by zero emission fuels into operation by 2030 towards full decarbonization by 2050 – maritime shipping’s moon-shot ambition.

International shipping emits 2-3 percent of global GHG emissions, transporting close to 80 percent of global trade by volume. To curb the emissions from shipping, the IMO has agreed on an ambition to reduce GHG emissions from shipping by at least 50 percent by 2050. To reach this goal and to make the transition to full decarbonization possible, commercially viable zero emission vessels must start entering the global fleet by 2030, with their numbers to be radically scaled up through the 2030s and 2040s. This will require both developing the vessels as well as the future fuel supply chain, which can only be done through close collaboration and deliberate collective action between the maritime industry, the energy sector, the financial sector, and governments and IGOs.

Shipping’s decarbonization can be the engine that drives green development across the world. The falling costs of net zero carbon energy technologies make the production of sustainable alternative fuels increasingly competitive. Determined collective action in shipping can increase confidence among suppliers of future fuels that the sector is moving in this direction. This will translate through the supply chain into increased demand for zero emission fuels. It could also be an important point of leverage for change across other hard-to-abate sector, thus accelerating the broader energy transition.

New marine fuels, derived from abundant untapped renewable resources, could also bring substantial development gains. Ports and shipping already underpin many countries’ economic growth; if shipping becomes a reliable source of demand for zero emission fuels, it has the potential to drive investment in energy projects in developing and middle-income countries.

The vision of the Getting to Zero Coalition is to advance Zero Emission Vessels (ZEVs) to support the transformational change toward a decarbonized, sustainable, and affordable shipping industry.

The ambition of the Getting to Zero Coalition set in the Ambition Statement is to have commercially viable ZEVs operating along deep-sea trade routes by 2030, supported by the necessary infrastructure for scalable net zero-carbon energy source including production, distribution, storage and bunkering.

In addition, the Coalition endorses the messages and ambition of the Call to Action for Shipping Decarbonization launched in September 2021 which points to the need for shipping to align with the Paris Agreement temperature goal and be run entirely on net-zero energy sources by 2050.

The Coalition is defined by this ambition and a set of core principles that all members share. As defined in the Ambition Statement and in the Call to Action for Shipping Decarbonization, Coalition members are committed to the decarbonization of deep-sea shipping, are technology-neutral and action-oriented, and the solutions they seek are commercially viable, safe, inclusive, and open.

Formally supporting the Getting to Zero Coalition is an expression of intent that does not create any legal or financial obligations.