The race to create green shipping corridors is on, with China, India, and Brazil leading the charge as the industry awaits climate regulations. A recent report reveals that 25 new zero-emission trade routes were launched in 2025, bringing the total to 84 worldwide. This expansion marks a significant shift, with major developing economies like China, India, Brazil, Chile, Ghana, and Kenya joining the initiative, highlighting the economic opportunities in zero-emission marine fuels and bunkering. However, the delay in the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Net-Zero Framework has sparked a debate on the 'wait and see' approach. The report emphasizes the need for action at the national level to drive progress, create a first-mover advantage, and secure early access to future IMO incentives. Despite the delay, the industry must not succumb to inaction. Instead, it should leverage emerging policies and programs from national governments, such as the EU’s Global Gateway initiative, H2Global, and Australia’s Hydrogen Headstart program, to unlock progress ahead of a global framework. This proactive approach will position participants as frontrunners, ready to benefit from future IMO incentives. The report outlines five key strategies for the industry to expand and progress green corridors: 1) Pursue strategies to break inertia and maintain momentum, closing the cost gap and ensuring corridors are advanced enough to qualify for first-mover rewards; 2) Capitalize on the opportunity to shape IMO policy, like the reward mechanism, and be well-positioned to benefit from eventual regulation; 3) Better engage those with ambitious decarbonization goals that can help scale solutions, particularly cargo owners who may be more willing to pay a premium for cleaner fuels; 4) Utilize emerging national policy and adapt it for new geographies to accelerate change and encourage industry buy-in; 5) Stay true to original principles, remembering that green corridors’ greatest contribution to maritime decarbonization comes from fostering collaboration and prioritizing harder-to-deploy e-fuels over more readily available solutions. The Getting to Zero Coalition and the Global Maritime Forum are urging the industry to act now, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and the need to prioritize e-fuels to achieve maritime shipping’s moon-shot ambition of full decarbonization by 2050.
