BlueForum – Sustainable Investments enabling your route to zero
On June 15, RMSC was represented by Pieter Baan (ING) and Peter van Eest (ABN-AMRO) at the Blue Forum. This 5 day international event took place on the ss Rotterdam.
Efficient implementation of the energy transition
The BlueForum is an initiative of MARIN to promote the smart and sustainable use of environment in the maritime sector, from energy to transport. The main objective is to bring together the actors that will enable an efficient implementation of the energy transition. Financing is of upmost importance to make the goals feasible and therefore RMSC members and partners Neos and Prow Capital took the initiative to discuss this at the themed session on financing Sustainable Investments enabling your route to zero.
The following discussion items were raised:
- Lenders’ appetite for investments in the renewable energy space,
- How to financially support the shipping sector to reach the climate goals,
- To what extend banks look at the support of EU / global legislation around carbon credits of electric vehicles to make projects worthwhile for finance.
Appetite for finance
In general we can conclude that there is appetite for finance from banks, and shipping concerned, we focus on sustainable finance and comply to amongst others the Poseidon principles. We appreciate support from EU and legislation, and a subsidy or green fund can help, but the market needs to accept the transition focus as well, and not refrain in the cheapest “non-green” solution.
Further a discussion is where the risk of the green investor and the bank is after termination of the TC contract, with the question, “did we took the right decision 5 years ago”, or do we have to invest in an alternative fuel solution. A long term outlook is therefore important.
Due to the decreasing appetite form shipping banks in Europe in general our total lending exposure compared to Asian banks is low. Further shipping is reporting huge profits in recent times, and not every EU member has a shipping angle, which can have an influence on how subsidies in general are divided in Brussels, which means that we have to be active to put shipping on the agenda, and also explain the importance of shipping in general.
RMSC will stay alert on opportunities to raise awareness for the financial implications. It was good to finalise the discussion session with the thought that in the end we are all on the same green page.
