28/12/2020
Dear all!
We are soon at the end of 2020 - a year for the history books - and from our corner of the world, we would like to send you our greetings for the holiday and reflect a little upon the turn of the year.
This year has, despite the tragic global pandemic, still featured positive progress, for ourselves as well as for the world around us. Back in January, we had just embarked upon a strategy to develop FMA into a small but sharp centre of excellence for strategic maritime decarbonisation. We saw that the maritime industry is faced with multiple facets of complexity, risk and uncertainty to such an extent that only the biggest players seem sufficiently equipped to engage with transformation. We wanted to change that. Over the course of the year, we have therefore explored how we can provide credible and high-end support towards transformative and scalable change, for small- and medium actors in this industry.
Why would we want to do this? Firstly, we recognised the danger of an unacceptably slow energy transition in shipping. The fact that moving shipping to net zero energy would reduce global GHG emissions by 2-3% now and potentially more later, is only part of the story. Demand from the shipping sector for new fuels and other related technologies is now seen as a highly important catalyst for the global energy transition in general, not only in shipping. Meanwhile of course shipping will have to continue fulfilling its role as an essential part of the energy supply chain whatever the future fuels may be. Leaving the task of change to only the larger companies presents various disadvantages. Despite considerable consolidation in some segments, the larger companies do not represent the majority of tonnage. So inaction by the small and medium companies will inevitably create drag on the transformative process. This drag could manifest itself in many areas, such as a predominance of resistance to regulatory change or the failure of sufficient market size development to enable business cases for new technologies.
Now, about a year since formation, following a reassuring volume and variety of both enquiry and activity, our path ahead has further clarified. We are co-developing a structured strategic planning solution for small-medium actors to embark on the transition journey. We invite anyone interested to be involved with development and beta testing to contact us.
2020 has been the year of "You're On Mute". All these digital meetings have also forced us explore new avenues for collaboration. Our sofa has become "The Decarbonisation Couch". This is from where we have hosted a short lunchtime seminar, one of the Maritime Development Centre’s (now MARLOG) “TitBits". The Director General of Shipping, India; Mr Amitabh Kumar has also been interviewed from this sofa, on India's Maritime Vision for 2030. We have participated in global digital conferences as speakers, moderators and also of course as audience. We have helped plan UN Conferences and networked with sustainable ocean entrepreneurs in California. We have attended IMO meetings and taught startups how to improve their chances with corporates. We have become involved in mentoring which we see as a highly important ingredient for a better future. This year we have also become a m m o n i a c s. Exploring various colours of ammonia as ship's fuel has been one topic we have immersed ourselves in, from top to bottom. We have come to fully understand the systemic challenge across all new fuel type opportunities. When considering feedstock development, supply infrastructure, fuel technologies and new ships, the levels of risk and uncertainty are mostly higher than any actor can bear alone. We are especially grateful for all we have learnt through one specific collaboration, the NoGAPS project.
We are hopeful that 2021 will be the year when the virus is beaten, and we can start seeing each other again. We also hope 2021 will be the year when consumers further ramp up their demand for truly sustainable transport options, particularly asking more questions about the climate change impact of maritime transport services.
With those words, wishing you and your loved ones all the very best wishes for the New Year.
Sofia & Conor
