GICAN, a key supporter in the development of Green Marine Europe

GICAN (The French Marine Industry Group) has been providing its support and expertise to Green Marine Europe from the outset.

Monica LOPEZ, Responsible for Economic, Fiscal and Statistical Affairs at GICAN, takes a look back at this collaboration.

Green Marine Europe is about to celebrate its ^5th anniversary. How has GICAN been involved during this period?

We are one of the historical members of the steering committee of Green Marine Europe, in the person of Claudie BENOIT, Responsible for Technical affairs, Environment and Safety. Our motivation was in part due to our commitment to integrate the shipyards into this initiative.

As such, participating in the dedicated working group has enabled us to contribute our expertise, while gaining a better understanding of the challenges specific to the different shipyards in Europe. This has strengthened our understanding of the issues and the ecosystem of shipyards, making it easier to adapt environmental practices and policies.

Green Marine Europe certification is now open to shipyards. More than an achievement, an opportunity for the future?

Opening up Green Marine Europe certification to shipyards in 2023 - with the announcement of the first certified shipyards at the Reveal ceremony in Brussels on 15 October - is the culmination of this collective effort. We see this as a positive, structuring signal to French and European shipyards, many of which are already involved in the environmental transition. The certification process now gives them the opportunity to demonstrate their efforts to shipowners in concrete terms, as well as providing them with a valuable tool for steering their sustainable strategy.

We hope that the announcement of the first Green Marine Europe-certified shipyards will have a knock-on effect and help to gradually integrate more European shipyards. We firmly believe in the relevance of this certification and its potential to promote more sustainable practices within the shipbuilding industry, thereby contributing to an effective and visible ecological transition.

In addition to Green Marine Europe, what other environmental initiatives is GICAN involved in?

This year, GICAN has produced an overview of French industrial solutions for decarbonising the maritime sector. The aim is to present the various French players involved in decarbonising the maritime sector. The inventory is based on the breakdown into levers - energy efficiency, energy switching, sobriety - adopted in the roadmap for decarbonisation of the maritime sector, dated April 2023.