
Transforming shipping for people and planet
Lloyd’s Register Foundation’s Katharine Palmer reflects on her role as Maritime Lead in the Climate Champions Team.
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The maritime industry must improve its forecasting to prepare for a range of possible futures, according to its leading classification society.
Lloyd’s Register and Lloyd’s Register Foundation have called on shipowners and other supply chain stakeholders to increase their ability to deal with significant changes and possible future scenarios - developed in a new report presented at London International Shipping Week today.
The report, “Global Maritime Trends 2050”, authored by Economist Impact, is part of a new joint multi-year Global Maritime Trends programme between Lloyd’s Register and Lloyd’s Register Foundation.
Significant changes the report identified include:
The report analysed likely future scenarios for shipping in 2050, based on the speed of technology adoption and the level of global collaboration, to help the industry forecast risks, opportunities, and required investment.
It was presented at an event at The Gherkin during London International Shipping Week.
Nick Brown, CEO of Lloyd’s Register, said that the report and the wider programme which will help benchmark some of the findings, represented an excellent opportunity to prepare for change and take action.
Other industries are much better at forecasting. The financial sector, for example, has a deep understanding of potential future scenarios and how to prepare for them, but shipping lags behind.
From tackling the energy transition to sourcing the next generation of seafarers, we’ve allowed uncertainty to delay action for too long. Now we’ve created a way for the industry to get a much better idea of the future. It’s time for them to get on board.
Shipping is deeply intertwined with geopolitical and macroeconomic challenges. Ships deliver 80% of the world’s trade and disruptions are felt acutely across the globe. Amid global supply chain uncertainties, the urgent need to decarbonise, the integration of new technologies, concerns about human rights and safety at sea, and the future of labour supplies, it’s crucial that those in the shipping industry do everything in their power to anticipate, mitigate, and overcome these challenges without causing harm elsewhere.
The Global Maritime Trends 2050 research programme will include a series of ‘deep dive’ reports in which Lloyd’s Register and Lloyd’s Register Foundation will commission expert organisations to examine what is needed to create a safe and sustainable maritime sector, in the face of geopolitical, macroeconomic, technological, and other societal shifts.
Find out more about The Global Maritime Trends 2050 Research Programme: https://www.lrfoundation.org.uk/en/publications/global-maritime-trends-research-programme/