Los Angeles and Shanghai, home to the largest ports in the United States and China, are working together to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cargo traffic between their ports. The initiative, which will create a “green shipping corridor” billed as the first of its kind, is at the heart of a recently announced partnership between the ports of the two cities and other stakeholders in the industry that aims to shift to zero-carbon fueled ships by 2030 and reduce emissions from port operations. “We are just getting started on this important work, but by convening international coalitions of key goods-movement stakeholders such as cities, ports, shipping lines and cargo owners, we hope this groundbreaking green shipping corridor initiative will catalyze action on a global scale,” Alisa Kreynes, Green Ports Program Manager at C40 Cities, told China Daily.
The initiative was made possible by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who launched the C40 Green Ports Forum while serving as the Chairman of C40, a network of Mayors from leading cities around the world, she said. The global shipping industry depends heavily on oil and is responsible for 3% of global emissions annually. It has come under increasing pressure to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. To keep global warming below 1.5ºC, an ambitious target set by the Paris Agreement, Kreynes said it is important to decarbonize the shipping sector, especially along major routes such as the Trans-Pacific corridor, where ships moved 21% of the world’s container volume in 2020. “For the past 20 years, the Port of Los Angeles has been the busiest container port in the Western Hemisphere; its top trading partner is China in terms of cargo volume,” Kreynes said. “In terms of container throughput, the Port of Shanghai is the world’s largest port.”
Ken Alex, Director of Project Climate at the UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment, said it is encouraging to see two of the world’s largest ports work collaboratively to accelerate the transition to zero-emission fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “It is of particular note that Shanghai and Los Angeles will develop best management practices which can be used by other large ports around the world,” he told China Daily. According to Alex, shipping emissions from ports account for an estimated 18 million tons of carbon dioxide annually and are on a trajectory to increase fourfold by 2050. That makes a concerted effort to reduce those emissions by two major ports a positive development, he said.
