"Politics and policy remain the main bottleneck to decarbonisation" (L. Gilliam / One Planet Port)

“While working on shipping policy in my earlier career, I realised that replacing fuels on board would not be enough. Even if we manage to produce enough renewable fuels, what is the point if the ships continue to carry goods with a high material and climate footprint? However, if we succeed in implementing policies that encourage society to live within 1.5°C and reduce its consumption and production to safe levels, it would have a significant impact”, declared Dr Lucy Gilliam, the executive-director at One Planet Port, a Rotterdam-based NGO, focusing on re-aligning global shipping and port operations within planetary boundaries.

"We set up our organisation in Rotterdam because it is Europe’s biggest port and a hotspot of industrial activity. Fossil fuels are really dominant there, as well as the chemical sector. But, at the same time, the Netherlands carries a lot of green and innovative projects. All of these elements made Rotterdam’s ecosystem particularly interesting. Therefore, we thought that Rotterdam was the best place to start our work on transforming ports", said Lucy…