Series of new green shipping corridors emerge despite IMO regulatory setback

China, India and Brazil are among developing nations setting up a host of new green shipping corridors despite the regulatory uncertainty surrounding investment in alternative fuels following the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) decision in October to postpone its net-zero framework for a year.

There have been 25 new green corridors launched so far this year, bringing the total to 84 active corridors worldwide, with major developing economies launching the initiatives for the first time, according to a new progress report published Thursday by the Getting to Zero Coalition and the Global Maritime Forum.

“The move of major countries like China, India, and Brazil into green corridors is hugely promising, as these are markets that will determine whether zero-emission shipping scales fast enough to meet global climate goals,” Jesse Fahnestock, director of decarbonization at the Global Maritime Forum, said in a statement accompanying the report.

At a Crossroads: Annual Progress Report on Green Shipping Corridors 2025 identified the new initiatives that have seen an expansion in both numbers and in geographic scope.

“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,” Fahnestock added. “Countries that move early stand to gain competitive industrial and geopolitical advantages across energy, trade, and technology.”

Green shipping corridors are trade routes designed to demonstrate and drive scale in zero-emission fuels, vessels and technologies. Along with China, India and Brazil are Chile, Ghana and Kenya that are targeting economic opportunities through the development of zero-emission marine fuels and bunkering capabilities in these regions.

Stalled by ‘feasibility wall’

The report, however, cautions that many of the 84 initiatives remain stalled by a "feasibility wall" created by the wide cost gap between conventional and zero-emission fuels. Lack of action at the government level is the main bottleneck facing green corridor projects, a challenge that the delayed IMO net-zero framework has only intensified.

The IMO’s net-zero framework was derailed by US-led opposition during a combative October meeting of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) in London and postponed for one year. But the Global Maritime Forum report warns that industry and governments should not surrender the next year to a "wait-and-see" approach as the IMO tries to build support for the framework among member nations.

Instead, it says corridors should make use of emerging policies and programs from national governments, such as the EU’s Global Gateway initiative and H2Global and Australia’s Hydrogen Headstart program – something that would unlock progress ahead of a global framework and put participants among the frontrunners to benefit from future IMO incentives.

Fahnestock maintained a positive outlook on the regulatory delay, noting that 11 months remain until the IMO regulation once again comes up for renewal at MEPC.

“That time can either be spent waiting or used to build projects that create strategic economic advantages, generate learnings that can influence the IMO’s reward mechanism, and put participants first in line for future global rewards,” he said.

“Those who act now will be best positioned to benefit when regulation catches up,” he added.

Among the recommendations in the annual report were for the shipping industry to “pursue strategies and break inertia” to ensure corridors were advanced enough to qualify for first mover rewards once they become available and to “capitalize on opportunities to shape IMO policy.”

The report also advised the shipping industry to better engage with ambitious decarbonization goals that could help scale solutions, particularly with cargo owners who may be more willing to pay a premium for cleaner fuels.

Carbon emissions stage recovery

One of the largest of the green corridor projects connects the hubs of Rotterdam and Singapore, and even though forced diversions around southern Africa created longer voyages, carbon emissions in container shipping was showing signs of recovery.

The Xeneta and Marine Benchmark Carbon Emissions Index (CEI), which measures carbon emissions across Xeneta’s top 13 global container shipping trades, fell below 100 points for the first time in 12 months to stand at 97.4 points in the second quarter.

The Rotterdam-Singapore Green and Digital Shipping Corridor aims to reduce emissions from large container vessels on the 15,000-km route by at least 20% by 2030 by enabling the use of low- and zero-carbon shipping fuels. It is a project with 25 partners operating more than 90 large container vessels on the route with a combined transport capacity of 1.5 million TEUs per year.

The concept of green corridors was established in November 2021 as a critical way to scale new sustainable fuels and technologies. They are regarded as being central to delivering the goal of having zero-emission fuels account for 5% of all fuels by 2030, a target considered to be the threshold at which the infrastructure, supply chains and technologies that support zero-emission fuels are mature enough to enable exponential growth.

This article was originally published in the Journal of Commerce on Nov. 26, 2025.