If international shipping was a country, it would be the sixth largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG) worldwide – ranking between Germany and Japan. Under a business-as-usual scenario, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) estimates that the sector’s GHG emissions may rise by another 50-250% over the coming 30 years.

As a consequence, the IMO therefore committed in April 2018 to reduce GHG emissions from ships by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels and to phase out the industry’s GHG emissions as quickly as possible within this century. While energy efficiency will play a crucial role in reaching these climate targets, it is likely to be insufficient to halve the GHG emissions in a continuously growing shipping sector by 2050, and certainly insufficient to completely decarbonize the sector shortly after.

A transition to new zero-emission bunker fuels that provide a viable alternative to the currently predominant heavy fuel oil will be required. Promising fuel candidates are currently synthetic fuels such as hydrogen or ammonia or biofuels. The viability of these new zero-emission bunker fuels will, however, be dependent on a number of geographic, macroeconomic, and industrial factors.

As a consequence, the World Bank and University Maritime Advisory Services have started a global assessment to identify developing countries which may be best positioned to consider becoming producers and suppliers of the next emissions-free generation of bunker fuels. After having identified developing countries with extraordinary potential, the assessment will analyze three countries in more detail in the form of case studies and illustrate how zero-emission bunker fuel supply from these countries could be imagined in the future

The webinar will discuss the following questions:

• Which candidate fuels should be considered for an assessment of country potential around the world?
• How could the potential to produce zero-emission bunker fuels be assessed on a country-by-country basis?
• Which developing countries are likely to offer extraordinary potential for becoming producers of zero-emission bunker fuels?
• How could this potential be transformed in a real business opportunity in one of the countries with extraordinary potential?

In this webinar, experts from the World Bank and University Maritime Advisory Services will present how they are analyzing the potential of developing countries to become potential producers of zero-emission bunker fuels. Insights will be given in the methodology applied and preliminary findings will be shared. The presenters will invite webinar participants to ask questions and provide feedback that can enhance the current research process.