Germany first country to embark on Canada’s green shipping corridor initiative

Germany has become the first country to join a Canadian initiative to establish green shipping corridors.

On October 6, 2025, Claudia Elif Stutz, State Secretary of Germany, signed the multilateral memorandum of understanding (MOU) at the sidelines of a bilateral high-level meeting in Ottawa. The joint objective is to further decarbonize shipping.

“Germany considers international cooperation vital in decarbonizing maritime shipping. We therefore support the adoption of globally binding measures at the International Maritime Organization as well as strong global partnerships to achieve true progress towards a sustainable and climate-friendly maritime sector as soon as possible. I would like to thank Canada for taking this initiative,” Stutz commented.

The signatory states affirm their common intention to promote international green shipping corridors between Eastern Canada (Halifax and Montreal, among others) and important ports in Europe, Asia and the Middle East in which climate-neutral technologies can be implemented in the future.

According to the German government, the objective is to promote voluntary partnerships along the maritime value chain and accelerate the transition to climate-friendly shipping. The topic of green shipping corridors is to be followed up with the National Action Plan for Climate-Friendly Shipping, first unveiled a year ago.

The Canadian government launched the Green Shipping Corridor Program in late 2023 to help decarbonize the marine sector in major shipping areas along the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and Canadian east and west coasts.

The program, with an initial investment of about $165.4 million, is being delivered through the two streams of funding – the Clean Ports stream and the Clean Vessel Demonstration stream.

Earlier this year, the Halifax Port Authority has been awarded funding of up to C$22.5 million from Transport Canada to accelerate the development of the Halifax-Hamburg green shipping corridor and prepare the port for the fuels and energy sources of the future. The funding builds on existing work at the Port of Halifax including the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Port of Hamburg. 

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