The movement to create green shipping corridors has expanded in numbers and geographic scope, according to a progress report publishedby the Getting to Zero Coalition and the Global Maritime Forum
This year’s edition, At a Crossroads: Annual Progress Report on Green Shipping Corridors 2025, identifies 25 new green corridor initiatives, expanding the global total to 84 active initiatives.
Initiatives have been launched in major developing economies including China, India, Brazil, Chile, Ghana and Kenya, reflecting the significant economic opportunities that can be seized through the development of zero-emissions marine fuels and bunkering capabilities in these regions, according to the report.
The news comes only a month after discussions to adopt the IMO landmark Net-Zero Framework were delayed for at least one year.
“The move of major countries such as China, India and Brazil into green corridors is hugely promising, as these are markets that will determine whether zero-emissions shipping scales fast enough to meet global climate goals,” Global Maritime Forum director of decarbonisation Jesse Fahnestock said. “But even more importantly, we’re seeing recognition from these countries that green corridors are more than just environmental projects – they are strategic economic infrastructure. Countries that move early stand to gain competitive industrial and geopolitical advantages across energy, trade and technology.”
For the first time since the report’s inception in 2022, four green shipping corridors have now reached the ‘realisation stage’, an important milestone at which the construction and operation of vessels, infrastructure and fuel plants takes place. However, the report cautions that many of the 84 initiatives remain stalled by a ’feasibility wall’ created by the cost gap between conventional and zero-emissions fuels – a challenge that the Net-Zero Framework, delayed until at least next October, could help overcome.
Despite this delay, the report warns that industry and governments should not surrender the next year to a ’wait and see’ approach. Instead, corridors should make use of emerging policies and programmes from national governments, such as the EU’s Global Gateway initiative, H2Global, and Australia’s Hydrogen Headstart programme – something that would unlock progress ahead of a global framework and put participants among the frontrunners to benefit from future IMO incentives.
“We have at least 12 months before IMO’s Net-Zero Framework is adopted,” Mr Fahnestock said. “That time can either be spent waiting or used to build projects that create strategic economic advantages, generate learnings that can influence IMO’s reward mechanism, and put participants first in line for future global rewards. Those who act now will be best positioned to benefit when regulation catches up.”
