Consortium looking to create green corridor between North America and Asia

Companies from North America, Asia, and Europe have formed a new consortium which will work on creating a new corridor for the decarbonised transportation of several commodities, including agricultural products, metal concentrates, and steelmaking coal between North America and Asia.

To that end, nine founding members – Canadian National Railway Company, Mitsubishi Canada, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, NYK Bulk & Projects Carriers, Oldendorff Carriers, Prince Rupert Port Authority, Teck, Trigon Pacific Terminals, and Vancouver Fraser Port Authority – have signed a memorandum of understanding and formed the North Pacific Green Corridor Consortium (NPGCC).

Its members represent around 25% of the more than 100m tonnes of bulk commodity products shipped annually through the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert.

The NPGCC is open to additional members and partners, in particular end-use customers, to contribute to the development and implementation of the green trade corridor.

The idea itself is not new as this new corridor was first revealed in June last year when senior representatives of Canadian mining company Teck presented the idea at the G7 Transport Ministers’ Summit in Japan.

“The launch of the North Pacific Green Corridor Consortium is a major step forward in achieving a sustainable and decarbonised future for the critical minerals value chain,” said Ian Anderson, SVP and CCO at Teck.

The consortium’s activities will focus on pathways to optimise energy efficiency to advance projects and infrastructure required to achieve emissions reductions in the near term. This includes the potential production, storage, and bunkering of lower-carbon fuels and propulsion options for use by NPGCC members and other parties.

“We are continuously looking for ways to reduce the environmental footprint of our shipping services, and the establishment of the North Pacific Green Corridor Consortium is an exciting milestone on this path,” stated Linda Kongerslev, director of global engagement and sustainability at Oldendorff Carriers.

“As a gateway terminal, we strongly believe in the importance of collaboration across the value chain to advance decarbonization and deliver meaningful, lasting benefits. This is why we are strong supporters of the NPGCC,” added Rob Booker, CEO of Trigon Pacific Terminals.