Extended EGSME meeting on the topic of green shipping and clean maritime transport in Oslo

The Council of the Baltic Sea States Expert Group on Sustainable Maritime Economy met in Oslo on the 11 May 2022 to discuss the topic of green shipping and clean maritime transport.

Following the climate targets set by the UN and EU, almost all countries – the CBSS Members States are engaged in policies for promoting, developing, and rolling out technology and services for clean and sustainable maritime transport.

The first session focused on Green Shipping in the Baltic – Policies and Initiatives with introductory speeches held by Mr. Ottar Ostnes (Director General, Ministry of trade, industry, and fisheries), Mr. Grzegorz Poznanski (Director General, CBSS Secretariat) and Ms. Annika Kroon (Head of the Unit for European Commission DG Move). The introduction was followed by a Tour de Table from the CBSS Member States with the aim of establishing commonalities and initiatives for further future collaboration.

The Second session highlighted Policy frameworks and instruments regarding Green Shipping in the Baltic Sea. Briefings and contributions were given by Mr. Tarmo Ots (EUSBSR Policy Area Transport coordinator), Ms. Reka Rozsavolgyi (European Commission DG Mare), Alda Nikodemusa (Head of VASAB Secretariat), Ms. Lucille Ehrhart (CPMR – BSC, Executive Secretary, CPMR Baltic Sea Commission) and Hermanni Backer Johnsen, Director of the NDPTL Secretariat.

The final session, Green shipping – initiatives from the Norwegian Maritime Industry, was led by presentations from Ms. Heidi Neilson (Port of Oslo) on the Zero Emission Strategy, Mr. Narve Mjøs on Green shipping programme: From piloting to scaling green shipping and Mr. Simon Jóhannsson (Norwegian Shipowners Association) on The Norwegian experience on green shipping in the Baltic Sea. The presentations were followed by an open discussion for comments and reflections on the sessions.

The sessions were followed by EGSME internal meeting where the German incoming presidency shared the first outlines of their presidency in a spirit of continuity with previous Swedish, Danish and Norwegian priorities.

During the final EGSME meeting under the Norwegian Presidency, CBSS Member representatives and the EU Commission shared their positions and main priorities in green maritime transport. They highlighted the importance of speeding up the green energy transition, implementing zero-emission shipping industry solutions and developing a reliable global legal framework to provide certainty in the industry in the Baltic Sea Region.

See more images from the meeting here.