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European Partnership to make Zero-Emission Waterborne Transport a reality before 2050


The Horizon Europe Partnership will invest up to 3.8 billion EUR in research and innovation

The European Commission and the Waterborne Technology Platform signed a Memorandum of Understand (MoU) for a Co-Programmed Partnership under the framework of Horizon Europe. The ceremony was part of the European Research and Innovation Days.

The Partnership aims at leading and accelerating the transformation of waterborne transport (i.e. maritime transport and inland navigation) to eliminate all harmful environmental emissions (including greenhouse gas, air and water pollutants) through innovative technologies and operation. By 2030, the objective is to develop and demonstrate deployable zero-emission solutions which are applicable for all main ship types and services, to enable the achievement of zero- emission waterborne transport by 2050.

The European Commission will invest up to EUR 530 million to actions within the scope of the Co- programmed European Partnership. The Partners other than the Union (i.e. the private sector) will provide input and advice to the European Commission in order to contribute to the identification of priorities of research and innovation activities and to the definition of call topics for inclusion in the Horizon Europe Work Programmes within the scope of the Co-programmed European Partnership’s activities.

Furthermore, the Partners other than the Union will invest up to EUR 3.3 billion for the period 2021 – 2030 in research, innovation and other activities in the area of the Co-programmed European Partnership.

To achieve the objectives, the Partnership brings together the majority of the European waterborne transport sector, including the European maritime technology sector (shipyards and maritime equipment manufacturers), most of the container transport capacity worldwide, research and cluster organisations, academia, class societies, the inland navigation sector as well as associations representing the broader waterborne transport sector.

The Chairman of the Waterborne Technology Platform, Henk Prins, said “Today is a unique moment for the European waterborne transport sector, which is a strategically important sector for the EU. The Partnership will not only foster and accelerate the transition to an environmental-friendly mode of transport, in line with the European Green Deal ambitions, but it will also stimulate the green recovery of the waterborne sector. The Partnership uniquely gathers all relevant stakeholders from the waterborne transport sector, who join forces to deliver innovative solutions for the benefit of future generations. We look forward to the applications for the first round of calls for proposals, as well as mapping the state-of-play and monitoring the progress towards reaching our objectives”.

WATERBORNE TP has been set up as an industry-oriented Technology Platform to establish a continuous dialogue between all waterborne stakeholders, such as classification societies, shipbuilders, shipowners, maritime equipment manufacturers, infrastructure and service providers, universities or research institutes, and with the EU Institutions, including Member States (www.waterborne.eu). The members of Waterborne TP comprise members as well as associated members from both maritime and inland navigation countries, representing about 18 Member States. In addition, the Associations member of the Waterborne Technology Platform represent the broader waterborne sector throughout the entire EU.

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