During her key-note address she highlighted the importance of Maritime 2050 and the Clean Maritime Plan in working towards a cleaner, greener future. Also at the conference was Chair of the Committee on Climate Change Lord Deben who gave an overview of how UK industry as a whole will need to change to ensure we achieve our climate change targets. He also spoke about the opportunities that a shift to clean growth will provide. A range of speakers from across the shipping and port sectors also presented during the day long conference.
Conference organiser and UK Chamber of Shipping Policy Director Anna Ziou said: “ We were delighted to welcome the minister, Lord Deben and all our speakers for what was a fascinating day. Tackling climate change and reducing emissions are a top priority for us and we were delighted to have industry leading figures give their views on the future of decarbonisation.” The conference was run and organised with the British Ports Association and their Head of Policy & External Affairs Mark Simmonds said: “The levels of engagement and interest at this conference demonstrates how decarbonisation and the environment and climate change more widely now top the agenda for our industry. The scale of the challenge is clear and I’m pleased that so many colleagues could join us to discuss how we overcome some of the barriers. These challenges for industry cannot be met without the support of Government and so it was great that officials and the Minister could join us too. The British Ports Association is looking forward to continuing this level of constructive engagement with UK shipping and Government over the course of this year and beyond.”