IMO-UNEP-Norway Innovation Forum 2024

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all the participants, both in person or virtual, for their invaluable contribution towards making the IMO-UNEP-Norway Innovation Forum 2024 a success. Take a look at the final recommendations that emerged from Innovation Forum 2024.

About the Innovation Forum

The Innovation Forum is a global platform aimed at championing innovation to accelerate the transition of the marine sector towards a zero- and low-emission future. The initiative focusses on promotion of inclusive innovation that addresses the specific needs of developing countries, especially Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The 4th IMO-UNEP-Norway Innovation Forum was held on 24–25 October 2024 as a hybrid event (live in person at the IMO Headquarters in London and online). 

The Innovation Forum is a partnership between the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and is supported by the Government of Norway. The Forum's aim is to promote innovation by providing a global platform to exchange best practice and fill identified gaps by gathering ideas and latest developments and sharing these between a broad array of stakeholders.

Key Goals

The aim of the Innovation Forum is to:

• Showcase green technologies and their deployment globally in a manner that supports the blue economy, particularly in developing regions.
• Discuss and debate new financing models to fund sustainable maritime transport with input from Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) on the latest facilities.
• Bring the shipping industry, academia, port management and global research entities together to offer inclusive solutions for maritime decarbonization.

Focus Areas:

1. Examination of national, regional and global innovation strategies and models for fostering innovation and cooperation between energy and maritime stakeholders in the context of maritime decarbonization.
2. Identifying innovative maritime GHG reduction technologies and evaluating their potential for piloting and scaling in developing countries.
3. Facilitating partnership opportunities for capacity development in maritime decarbonization research, technology and infrastructure in developing countries, especially LDCs and SIDS.
4. Review of new and emerging finance models and how these can be leveraged to fund decarbonization efforts in the maritime sector.
5. Presentations on equipping of seafarers with training and skills aligned to a just energy transition in shipping.

Background

After the adoption of the Initial IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships on 13 April 2018, the Government of Norway, the IMO Secretariat and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) discussed ways of supporting the Strategy to reduce emissions from shipping through advocating and promoting technological innovation.

A gap was identified in the existence a global platform to discuss these ideas, leading to the establishment of the IMO-UNEP-Norway Zero- and Low-Emission Innovation Forum. It was designed as a global platform to promote innovation for accelerating the transition of the maritime sector towards a zero- and low-emission future.

The Innovation Forum directly supports the historic milestone that was arrived at in July 2023, during the eightieth session of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 80) when Member States unanimously adopted the 2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ships.

Since its inception in 2021, four editions of the Innovation Forum have taken place, the most recent having been held on 24–25 October 2024.