The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) has announced a new knowledge partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The signing of this agreement took place in Milan during the launch of the ADB’s Sustainable and Resilient Maritime Fund (SRMF) at its annual meeting, reports Xinder Marine.
Adopting Energy Efficient Tech
The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) has formed a new partnership with a multilateral development bank, marking GCMD’s first such collaboration. This partnership complements GCMD’s existing diverse network of center-level partners. The primary goal of this collaboration is to promote green financing pathways that will support the development of a sustainable and resilient maritime sector. This will be achieved by leveraging the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) strength in mobilizing resources across its global network and GCMD’s expertise in addressing the practical challenges of maritime decarbonization through real-world pilot projects.
A key component of ADB’s efforts in this area is the Sustainable and Resilient Maritime Fund (SMRF). Building on the momentum of ADB’s Maritime Decarbonisation Initiative, launched at COP29 in Baku, which aims to facilitate a just transition towards sustainable and resilient maritime infrastructure, the bank is establishing the SRMF. The SRMF will focus on enabling a future-ready maritime transport system through several key areas: investing in resilient port infrastructure, accelerating the adoption of alternative fuels, bridging financing gaps, and promoting regional policy harmonization.
A significant area of focus for the partnership is accelerating the adoption of energy efficiency technologies (EETs). These technologies are considered a “no-regrets approach” to reducing emissions in the maritime sector by lowering fuel consumption. However, the widespread adoption of EETs faces considerable obstacles, primarily due to the difficulty in accurately quantifying fuel savings, which creates uncertainty regarding the return on investment.
To address this challenge, GCMD is actively developing and testing methodologies to validate fuel savings achieved through the deployment of onboard sensor installations. By providing clear attribution of fuel savings to specific technologies, GCMD aims to implement a Pay-As-You-Save (PAYS) financing model, which has proven successful in other sectors. Under the PAYS model, upfront investments in EETs can be repaid over time, with payments directly linked to verified fuel savings. This approach helps to align the interests of various stakeholders and fosters a model of shared risk and reward.
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Source: XinderMarine
