California, Japan to develop green shipping corridors

The state of California and the government of Japan have signed a letter of intent (LoI) to work on strategies to cut pollution at seaports and establish green shipping corridors, the California State Transportation Agency (CalST) said on March 15.

The LoI signed in Tokyo by members of the Newsom administration overseeing business, transportation, energy and air quality, and officials from the ministry of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism of Japan builds on the partnership governor Newsom forged last March to enhance trade and climate action between the two parties, CalST said.

As noted in the LoI, the CalST will support green shipping corridors, port decarbonisation and the deployment of zero-emission transportation through the $1.2bn port and freight infrastructure programme, with awards for the programme scheduled to be announced later this month.

In addition, the Japanese ministry along with governor’s office of business and economic development (GO-Biz), the California Air Resources Board and the California Energy Commission will share expertise and best practices on efforts to cut port-related pollution, including strategies for offshore wind development and zero-emission fuels and infrastructure.

“The ports of California and Japan help power the global economy and will now help power a new era of clean energy, clean transportation and good-paying green jobs,” said Newsom.

“California is a global climate and economic leader, and I’m thankful to the Japanese government for collaborating with us to help accelerate efforts to aggressively combat climate change on both sides of the Pacific and recognising that we need to get things done now because later is too late,” he added.