Press announcement from EU Waterborne Technology Platform
The Green Shipping Expert Group (GSEG) of the EU-funded project STEERER (Structuring Towards Zero Emission Waterborne Transport) held its first workshop on Wednesday, 16 December 2020 with 50 experts representing the broader waterborne transport sector.
The group including high level representatives of ports, research organizations, industrial associations, shipowners, NGO’s and administrations from across Europe has been formed this June following an open call for expressions of interest.
The Green Shipping Expert Group is core to the STEERER project’s activities and will provide recommendations to the Waterborne Technology Platform and the Zero Emission Waterborne Transport Partnership (ZEWT), concerning the achievement of zero-emission waterborne transport and the strategic Research, Development and Innovation that is required to make this possible.
This will be set in the context of public policies, regulations, investment priorities and the market measures needed to boost this transition. The project will monitor activities and recommend yearly updates to the ZEWT Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda, to ensure that it is aligned with the latest developments and most effectively enable achievement of the partnerships goal to demonstrate by 2030 deployable zero emission waterborne transport solutions suitable for all main ships types.
In the first workshop held on 16th December 2020, the experts focused on defining the main trends influencing the transition towards zero emission waterborne transport. The experts were divided in 6 groups with a focus on: political, economic, social, technological and environmental aspects of the transition.
According to Peter Crawley, Policy officer Waterborne Transport, DG RTD of the European Commission, “The launch of STEERER is timely and important. The EU is committed to cutting transport emissions by 90%. Last week the European Commission launched its sustainable and smart mobility strategy and the European Council meeting endorsed a 55% decarbonisation target by 2030. A range of a regulatory and market measures are expected to make this happen.
However, there is wide agreement that RD&I plays a critical role to provide the solutions that are needed to make this possible as well supporting Europe’s leadership in green shipping technologies. The foreseen Zero Emission Waterborne Transport (ZEWT) Partnership in the framework of Horizon Europe is central to the EU’s waterborne RD&I strategy and the activities of STEERER are essential to ensure that ZEWT will remain current and achieve its ambition. The green shipping expert group is core, its members must look beyond any immediate organisational interests and focus on what is needed to achieve this grand vision”.
An on-line consultation open to a broad range of stakeholders, will follow as a next step in order to finalize the list of trends and drivers influencing the transition towards zero-emission waterborne transport.
About STEERER:
STEERER (Structuring Towards Zero Emission Waterborne Transport) will coordinate the establishment and communication of a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda1 and an Implementation Plan towards zero-emission waterborne transport, in cooperation with all key stakeholders needed to facilitate the transformation to clean waterborne transport. STEERER is coordinated by SEA Europe: Shipyards’ & Maritime Equipment Association, acting as the Secretariat of the Waterborne Technology Platform, counting with participation of a total of seven partners from six EU countries. STEERER has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 875285.
WATERBORNE has been set up as an industry-oriented Technology Platform to establish a continuous dialogue between all waterborne stakeholders, such as classification societies, shipbuilders, shipowners, maritime equipment manufacturers, infrastructure and service providers, universities or research institutes, and with the EU Institutions, including Member States.
ZEWT aims to create the foundations to transform waterborne transport into a net zero-emission mode of transport, through the demonstration of deployable zero-emission solutions suitable for all main ship types and services before 2030. It will contribute to maintaining and reinforcing Europe’s global leadership in innovative, green waterborne transport solutions.
