The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, the US departments of state and energy, and the Danish government will carry out pre-feasibility studies for green corridors in five developing countries.
The Global South Green Corridors project aims to support sustainable green growth and job creation.
The initiative was announced at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai by US special envoy John Kerry, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Namibian energy minister Tom Alweendo and Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.
The pre-feasibility study involves identifying the most important conditions to enable green corridor projects, including financing, safety, regulation and the development of energy and fuels.
Initial studies will involve Namibia, Panama, Fiji and two more as yet unnamed countries.
The southern hemisphere has been largely ignored in the green corridor projects announced so far.
The latest initiative is part of efforts to make sure the global transition to carbon-free shipping is more inclusive and “just and equitable”.
“We are facing a global transition that needs to be inclusive, just and equitable to be truly sustainable: from east to west and from south to north,” said Moller Center chief executive Bo Cerup-Simonsen.
James Mnyupe, presidential economic advisor and green hydrogen commissioner of Namibia, said green corridors are an “essential response” to the need to combat climate change.
“However, for a seafaring nation like Namibia, they are equally impactful catalysts for development and a bedrock for sustainable industrialisation and a key ingredient of our nation’s green industrialisation agenda,” he said.
