1. Blowing away the barriers on Women In Maritime Day

Thursday 18 May was International Day for Women in Maritime and we were glad to be an ambassador for the movement, promoting inspirational women in the shipping sector.

Our CEO Aoife O’Leary took part in a Twitter chat to celebrate Women in Maritime Day. She was joined by some exceptional women from different corners of the globe who are all making waves in the shipping industry. The panel included: Naa Densua Aryeetey, RINAKOM Maritime & Trade Consult; Dr Lucy Gilliam, Seas at Risk; Gisa Paredes, WellAtSea; and Madeline Rose, Pacific Environment.

The discussion asked what motivates women to work in maritime shipping and how we can encourage more to enter the industry, and looked at how women are contributing to the huge efforts taking place to decarbonise the sector.

“It’s hugely important to increase women’s participation in the maritime sector,” said Aoife. “How any sector could meet today’s challenges without having the best talent at its fingertips is a mystery to me. The maritime sector is missing out on a sizable proportion of the talent that exists in the world by being so male dominated.”

Read this blog to hear from each panel member on issues including increasing female participation in the shipping sector and what pollutants need to be removed from the industry to make it safer for women to work in.

These themes were also highlighted by Diane Gilpin, CEO of Smart Green Shipping, in an article on blowing away barriers on Women In Maritime Day.

“I am one of the few female CEOs operating in the maritime environment and believe the maritime industry should do more,” said Diane. “Women can be successful in the industry, but we should not have to work harder to achieve it.”

2. Polluters’ share prices fall following climate litigation

Earlier this month our Legal Manager David Kay outlined his five reasons why boards should think about climate litigation risk. He explained that this activity is growing rapidly and warned that businesses should be taking urgent action.

Only a matter of days after this blog was published, a new report emerged from LSE’s Grantham Research Institute, helping to prove his point. The study analysed 108 climate crisis lawsuits against 98 US and European companies between 2005 and 2021. It found that fossil fuel companies register a drop in their value after climate litigation.

The study is currently being peer reviewed, however its findings to date show that a company’s expected value drops by an average of 0.41% if a new case is filed against it, or an unfavourable court decision is made.

“The findings of this study are really important,” says David. “Short-term shareholder profit maximisation has come to dominate corporate behaviour, dangerously ignoring the significant and diverse risks climate change poses to businesses and inhibiting corporate climate action. But the study’s findings show that bringing climate cases can drive climate action in even the most myopic of company boards by having an instant impact on company value.”

3. France bans short-haul flights

This month we’re applauding France for making a bold move to ban a range of domestic short-haul flights to cut carbon emissions. It has identified flights routes where alternative train travel exists and can be made in under two-and-a-half hours.

Affected routes include air travel between Paris and cities including Nantes, Lyon and Bordeaux.

A plane emits 77 times more CO2 per passenger on average than the train on these routes. Plus, it’s cheaper to travel by rail, and research shows that it only takes around 40 minutes longer.

While opponents may argue that the emissions savings are small, we hope to see other countries following in France’s footsteps with even more ambition. Not only would this add up to greater emissions reductions overall, it would also help to kickstart meaningful behaviour change in our travel habits.

Here at Opportunity Green we do our best to find travel alternatives to flying whenever possible. Our Legal Director Carly Hicks recently travelled from Devon to Berlin by train and discovered how many benefits there are to swapping planes for trains.

'Let’s reframe the narrative around corporate travel' ~ says @cm_hicks, who railed from Devon to Berlin and back for work last week🚆🌍 The best way to reduce aviation emissions is to fly less. Business travellers can and should be leading the way.https://t.co/vcKPEY7Jh1
— Opportunity Green (@opp_green) April 21, 2023

And the proposal of the French Citizens’ Convention for Climate indicates that there is indeed appetite for more stringent rules: the citizens initially recommended to ban domestic short-haul flights where train alternatives under four hours existed.

4. Pressure on private jet owners

American multimillionaire Stephen Prince has sold his private jet and spoken out about how polluting it is. "I get on my plane and I'll spew ten times as much carbon into the atmosphere as I do when I get on a first-class flight on Delta or American Airlines," he said. "It's just unconscionable – it's incredibly selfish."

To decarbonise the aviation sector, we need to see flight reduction across the board, but private jets are a particular culprit.

A report by Transport & Environment found that just 1% of people cause 50% of global aviation emissions and private jets magnify the carbon emissions of flying by a factor of up to 14. And compared to train travel, private jets are around 50 times more polluting.

Add that to a new report from Frazer Nash claiming that almost all of the emissions savings needed to meet net-zero goals in the UK could be achieved by halving the number of private jet flights, and it’s hard to ignore the impact of this elitist activity.

Private jets have been a hot topic this month in other places too, with protestors from Greenpeace, Stay Grounded and Extinction Rebellion disrupting Europe’s largest private jet trade fair to raise awareness.

Some progress is being made. Prince is part of the Patriotic Millionaires group, which wants to see a 10% tax on all purchases of second-hand private jets, and a 5% tax on new aircraft. It is also calling for doubling fuel taxes on private jet travel, compared with commercial aviation.

By 2050 it’s estimated that aviation could account for 22% of global emissions. There are no easy routes to decarbonising the aviation sector – we need a package of solutions and aviation taxes are an essential part of that package. It’s encouraging to see business travellers like Prince make strides to shake up the status quo.

5. Deforestation in Brazil falls by 68%

Brazil’s new president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office at the start of this year, promising to end deforestation in the wake of soaring rainforest destruction under his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro.

It was a big claim – not least because of several major planned infrastructure projects in the Amazon and his reported lack of staff.

Still, April’s figures undoubtedly offer something to lift the spirits. Government data shows that deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest fell an incredible 68% on the previous year.

The annual peak in deforestation takes place between July to September, so it’s too soon to say if this marks a true downward trend – but it’s certainly cause for optimism. We’ll report back later in the year…

What positive climate stories have lifted your spirits this month? Share it with us on Twitter or LinkedIn and we’ll help to spread the word.