California, Shanghai Leadership Collaborate to Advance Green Shipping Corridor
Contacts
LONG BEACH – Transportation and environmental policy leaders and scholars from California state agencies, the ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles and Shanghai gathered Wednesday to discuss their efforts to decarbonize the maritime industry via development of a Green Shipping Corridor between California and Shanghai.
The Port of Long Beach hosted leadership from the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the California Energy Commission (CEC) and executive-level government representatives from the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission (SMTC) for the California-Shanghai Maritime Decarbonization and Green Shipping Corridor High-Level Forum.
The California-China Climate Institute (CCCI), the Port of Long Beach, the Port of Los Angeles, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), C40 Cities and other key stakeholders and industry representatives were instrumental in coordinating this event, which highlighted the role of infrastructure development and the policies and regulations needed to advance international green shipping corridors.
In addition to high-level leadership from SMTC, the Chinese delegation included members of the Shanghai International Port Group, COSCO Shipping Holdings Co., Shanghai Maritime University and the China Classification Society. The attendees also included key technical and policy experts, government representatives, academics and researchers, industry representatives and members of the environmental justice community.
“Transportation and goods movement continue to be a critical part of the backbone of our strong and thriving economy, and we are thrilled to join forces with Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission in this important work,” said California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin. “Our team at CalSTA looks forward to continued cooperation with our ports and international partners as we collaborate in our efforts to decarbonize goods movement in the maritime sector.”
“The Port of Shanghai is the busiest container port in the world,” said SMTC Deputy Director General Ye Xing. “We value our partnership with the State of California and have established productive working relationships with the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Together, we are committed to advancing port decarbonization and the essential development of green shipping corridors.”
Over the years, California and China have engaged in open dialogue on climate cooperation. In 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom traveled to China where he committed to strong collaboration to advance shared interests related to climate action, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and short-lived climate pollutants and the acceleration and deployment of clean energy. During the visit, five cooperative agreements were signed. One Memorandum of Understanding (https://www.energy.ca.gov/media/8987)between California and Shanghai aims to advance clean, low-carbon transportation including the development of clean ports and green shipping. This work complements the existing partnership between the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Shanghai to decarbonize one of the world’s busiest container shipping routes.
The forum was an opportunity to highlight that the Port of Long Beach, together with the Port of Los Angeles, C40 Cities and the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission (SMTC), jointly published, in October 2024, their first ever Green Shipping Corridor Partnership Annual Progress Report (https://www.c40.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/GSC_Annual_Report_2024_EN_WEB.pdf), which outlines significant progress made toward decarbonizing maritime vessels. The Port of Long Beach also recently published a white paper on the use of clean marine fuels in shipping. (https://polb.com/environment/air/#clean-marine-fuels)
“Everyone involved in this initiative sees the potential of the Green Shipping Corridor that now connects California to Shanghai,” said Port of Long Beach Chief Executive Officer Mario Cordero. “Twenty years ago, the Port of Long Beach made a commitment to clean air, resulting in significant reduction in harmful emissions today. Our green journey has evolved into a goal of zero emissions and decarbonizing one of the world’s busiest trade routes, and it’s great to see the parties involved in the green corridor stepping up the collaboration needed to reach this destination. Infrastructure investment and policy changes to allow clean marine fuels to be more widely used will be particularly important to maximize the trans-Pacific partnership we saw in Long Beach last week.”
“Decarbonizing goods movement between the largest ports in the United States and China requires international cooperation and that’s exactly what we’re doing through our work on the Green Shipping Corridor Partnership,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Eugene Seroka. “We are committed to working toward the deployment of zero lifecycle carbon container ships on the corridor by 2030.”
International partnerships that leverage existing trade relationships have been essential to drive progress on decarbonization of shipping. Green Shipping Corridors provide a forum for partnership and cooperation where all participating parties come together with an aim to achieve goals and advance toward use of low- and zero-carbon fuels and technologies.
One of these corridors is the Los Angeles - Long Beach - Shanghai Green Shipping Corridor. Goals in this specific green corridor include deploying reduced or zero lifecycle carbon emission capable ships and facilitating investment in clean marine fueling infrastructure at the partner ports.
This forum brought together leadership to weigh in on these topics, to dive deeper into the necessary components of green shipping corridors and explore opportunities for greater collaboration in this emerging space.
“The California Energy Commission is a proud partner in this effort to decarbonize our Ports and implement the Green Shipping Corridor effort between the ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles and the Port of Shanghai,” said CEC Commissioner Nancy Skinner. “The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have made great strides in decarbonizing their port operations, and the CEC is proud to have funded multiple projects at each port that are furthering the transition to clean energy and green shipping goals here in California.”
In 2024, California State leadership traveled to Shanghai to see port operations in real time and witness firsthand innovation being employed. Later that same year, the United States Department of Energy published a Maritime Decarbonization Action Plan, which identified pathways to achieve a zero-emissions maritime sector by 2050. The global community is committed to advancing green shipping―and progress and planning are already underway.
“California is a global leader in climate action and is committed to the health and prosperity of both people and planet,” said CARB Chair Liane Randolph. “As a champion for clean air, the California Air Resources Board remains dedicated to working together to identify opportunities for deeper decarbonization in the green shipping space.”
CCCI, a University of California-wide initiative housed jointly at UC Berkeley’s Rausser College of Natural Resources and School of Law, supported much of the planning for the forum. Through research, training and dialogue, CCCI aims to inform policymakers, foster cooperation and partnership, and drive climate solutions at all levels.
“In this interconnected world, where we share oceans, shipping corridors, trade and climate impacts, it’s increasingly critical for us to also share ideas and solutions,” said CCCI Executive Director Fan Dai. “Cutting climate pollution from shipping requires deep collaboration, and that’s what this forum is all about.”