Shipping’s decarbonization ambitions remain intact despite global turmoil

June 11, 2025, by Naida Hakirevic Prevljak

Despite rising global headwinds, including the slowing of renewable energy investments and geopolitical instability, the shipping industry’s decarbonization ambitions remain resilient, a new survey shows.

The Global Maritime Decarbonisation Survey (2nd Edition) was jointly conducted by the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) between October 2024 and February 2025. The survey gathered 114 responses from shipowners and operators across a range of vessel types, fleet sizes, and regions.

While the survey was conducted before the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) MEPC 83 session in April 2025, its findings already reflected sustained commitment across the industry. The outcomes of MEPC 83—introducing new regulatory targets and incentives—are expected to reinforce these ambitions and further accelerate momentum.

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The state of the maritime industry: solutions adoption and challenges

Survey results show that 60% of respondents have now set net-zero targets (up from 54%), while the use of bio-blended fuels has more than doubled to 46%, and methanol use has increased from 3% to 6%.

However, uptake of more nascent technologies—such as ammonia, wind-assisted propulsion systems, solar panels, super-light ships, and air lubrication—remains limited.

The survey also reflects the industry’s desire for policies and regulations to create a level playing field. Nearly three-quarters of respondents identified either compliance measures or financial incentives as the most important policy objectives. A level playing field will ensure that early adopters are not competitively disadvantaged on cost and stakeholders with limited resources can benefit from financial support to overcome economic barriers.

The survey also gathered insights from key bunkering ports, whose support is critical for maritime decarbonization. Most surveyed ports have roadmaps and dedicated teams focused on initiatives to facilitate maritime decarbonization, and all of them, namely Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Port of Long Beach, Port of New York and New Jersey, Port of Rotterdam, and Port of Singapore, offer green incentives.

A significant concern for ports, however, is the lack of demand certainty from shipping companies for both low-carbon fuels and onboard carbon capture systems (OCCS). This ‘chicken-and-egg’ dilemma hinders ports to take on the investment decision to develop the requisite infrastructure, though the recently introduced GHG pricing mechanism is expected to strengthen demand signals for low-carbon fuels.

Four key initiatives for maritime decarbonization

Based on the survey and interviews, this report identifies four key initiatives needed to achieve the sector’s decarbonization ambitions. Regulators need to level the playing field to ensure that all stakeholders can adopt decarbonization solutions without being competitively disadvantaged. Challenges cited include regulatory methodologies not accounting for the myriad of conditions vessels operate under (52%), lack of clear guidelines within existing regulations (44%) and, non-uniform standards in regional policies and regulations (39%).

Equally important is the need to foster economic viability of decarbonization solutions. Addressing the higher cost for adopting these solutions may require blended financing, which could encompass financial incentives from government and innovative financing mechanisms from the private sector like pay-as-you-save. More than 70% of respondents reported that the availability of financial incentives has remained largely unchanged since 2022.

Another critical initiative is creating demand certainty for infrastructure investment. Demand signals can be achieved by aggregating low-carbon fuel demand across multiple shipping companies. By collaborating with ports, shipping companies can better guarantee demand—through measures such as sharing demand forecasts or offering demand guarantees—thereby providing ports with a more reliable customer base and catalysing investment in supporting infrastructure.

However, any such collaborative mechanisms must be structured in compliance with relevant antitrust laws to ensure they do not inadvertently restrict competition.

Finally, bridging awareness and knowledge gaps will play a key role. Creating a data sharing environment that balances security with mutual benefits would allow companies to share data while retaining control, in exchange for advanced insights. These platforms could aggregate performance data and package it into ‘sister ship’ benchmarks to help reduce uncertainty and accelerate the adoption of decarbonization solutions, particularly the less widely adopted ones.

Internally, companies could also allocate resources to build internal capabilities, including dedicated sustainability teams, or partner with industry bodies, such as classification societies, regulatory authorities, and thinktanks.

“Positive developments in maritime policy, especially from the IMO, which further tighten limits on GHG emissions, along with the increased ambitions voiced by survey respondents, are encouraging signals. Greater cooperation with the ports and pertinent stakeholders across the various value chains will be required to address challenges across the broader ecosystem,” Sanjay C Kuttan, Chief Strategy Officer of GCMD, commented.

“With the right investments and collaborative actions, the maritime industry can chart a course to a future where sustainable decarbonisation and commercial success can co-exist.”

“It is encouraging to see that even in the face of global uncertainties, the maritime industry’s decarbonisation ambitions remain intact and steadfast. The recent MEPC outcomes mark a pivotal step forward, sharpening demand signals with incentives for exceeding compliance goals and penalty mechanisms for shortfalls,” Anand Veeraraghavan, Managing Director and Senior Partner of BCG, said.

“Now is the time for the industry—both ships and ports—to build on this momentum.”