Ship travel

Pacific Nations Launch Green Shipping Partnership

Is this a bold solution or an unnecessary bureaucratic overhaul?

Published 1 day ago

Pacific Nations Launch Green Shipping Partnership

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Above: Cargo Boats at Beqa Lagoon, Viti Levu, Fiji, on Jan. 26, 2011. Image credit: Reinhard Dirscherl/ullstein bild via Getty Images

The Spin

Climate activist narrative

The PBSP is a country-owned institution designed to end the region's dependence on aged, fossil-fuel-burning vessels. These ships, used to service some of the longest, costliest domestic shipping routes on Earth, are both an economic hindrance and a climate threat that the PBSP will remove through its ambitious climate targets and concrete actions.

Micronesian Center for Sustainable Transport

Climate-skeptic narrative

Contrary to the claims of eco alarmists, shipping is the most emissions-efficient mode of transport that currently exists, producing just 10-15 grams of CO₂ per ton-kilometer, far less than road or air transport. Radical overhauls to international shipping, such as the PBSP, therefore, risk causing significant disruption without delivering proportional climate gains.

Emirates Shipping Association