Green Financing for Shipping Industry: Results of a Marine Professionals’ Survey

The global shipping industry, like many others, is under growing pressure to be more sustainable. Regulation, renewable energy advances and customer demand have created a golden opportunity to make shipping more environmentally sustainable, which, however, entails significant funding. Traditional ship financing has been done largely on a secured basis, with relatively few considerations around sustainability and environmental protection. This approach is ripe for innovation, given the industry’s significant environmental footprint. Evidence from other industries suggests that borrowers could benefit in pricing and structure from sustainable borrowing mechanisms, such as green bonds (where proceeds are dedicated to environmental and social investment). The trend is also increasing for sustainable loans, which can help to meet the growing demand for retrofit financing within existing vessels to meet CO2 emission targets. This paper aims to explore the attitudes of shipping industry participants, through the use of a survey, to green financing, that is, issuing unsecured and covered green, social, and sustainable bonds and other related financing instruments. These could effectively advance the environmental and social agenda in the industry, strengthening environmental, social, and governance (ESG) structures at the same time. Preliminary results suggest that there is considerable scope for improving knowledge and awareness among marine professionals to bridge the sustainability gap.