Photo: Decarbonization Summit hosted by Royal Caribbean Group in collaboration with the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping. 

Driven by a collective objective to help further the maritime and cruise industry's decarbonization goals, more than 70 maritime leaders met earlier this week at a Decarbonization Summit hosted by Royal Caribbean Group in collaboration with the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping. 

Cutting across the maritime ecosystem from technology developers and fuel providers to shipbuilders, ship operators and ports, the Summit's conversations focused on three key areas including technology development, alternative fuel opportunities and policy and regulation. 

The Summit concluded with three key advancement areas to help the industry usher in a new era of collaboration to achieve net zero in the next 25 years. They are:

• Technology: Discussions zeroed in on the creation of an independent network or platform to enable the maritime industry to share important findings regarding pilot and testing programs.
   
• Fuel: Participants called for the formation of an independent third party-hosted platform to aggregate low carbon fuel demand by location. The aggregator would provide insights that would enable the industry to better prepare for the supply of alternative fuels. 
   
• Policy: Summit participants agreed that a set of principles that outlines critical policy actions needed to support the industry's shared goal for decarbonization should be developed to inform progress for the International Maritime Organization (IMO).