Carleen Lyden Walker
Invest in Change
“Actions not Words”
Kitack Lim opened the MEPC meeting in London with a call for “actions not words”. This refrain is being echoed throughout the world as society demands the shipping industry work to reduce its contribution to climate change by reducing first its SOx emissions, then its GHG emissions by 2050, with an interim goal set for 2030. But it comes at a cost.
Change needs investment- and right now the shipping “slush fund” is empty. We need to look to new partnerships- or create a new relationship with existing partners. Commercial banks who shy away from large capital investments may be willing to support an asset upgrade to move towards environmental goals—as long as they have a way to secure their investment. There may be solution providers who are willing to invest in the utilization of their strategy on board ships—with a guarantee of purchase of fleet wide deployment with a successful trial. There may also be environmental investment funds who will become part of the solution for environmental change.
Actions Change Things. We need to reduce the barriers to change—and invest in the future!
Keep optimizing,
Carleen
