Thank you.
Good morning. My name is Juvarya Veltkamp. I'm a senior adviser with the global environmental non-profit C40 Cities. Our mandate is to support about 100 cities around the world, including Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.
I'm here to bring your attention to the need we have here in Canada to make massive, targeted investments commensurate with the need to support the development of green shipping corridors. Canada, as a signatory of the Clydebank Declaration, is committed to green shipping corridors. These corridor projects are really innovation sandboxes that can help catalyze the transition to zero-emissions supply chains and help aggregate demand and get moving on zero-emissions fuels as well.
At C40, we're the lead convenor for two of these corridor initiatives globally, and we've learned about the complexity and the massive need for different innovation and thinking about how to support development of the corridors.
American ports are getting ready for the challenge. The U.S. EPA will help U.S. ports and vessel and equipment owners to access $3 billion in funding over four years. Ports in Los Angeles and Seattle are parts of consortiums that have received over $1 billion each to develop clean hydrogen hubs. To stay competitive, we need, first of all, to make sure the $165 million—with an “m”, unfortunately, not with a “b”—that has been committed by Transport Canada into a green shipping corridor fund starts flowing. We need the dollars flowing, and we need a strong strategy in place to guide how these investments will be made.
The maritime sector is vital to Canada's economy. Port communities in Vancouver and Montreal, for example, can really benefit from investments in maritime decarbonization. They benefit through improved air quality, clean innovation and the creation of good green jobs. We know these investments have far-reaching benefits, positive impacts beyond creating a resilient and sustainable supply chain for goods imported and exported from Canada.
Thank you.