A Review of Economic Incentives to Promote Decarbonization Alternatives in Maritime and Inland Waterway Transport Modes

Abstract

Public policies and economic incentives are widely used as a strategy to stimulate the use of green technologies and low-emission practices in the waterborne transport sector. Since the Paris Agreement, countries have been encouraged to implement more strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to build resilience against climate change impacts in developing countries. This article presents a literature review on policies, regulations, and programs that represent economic incentives to promote alternatives to decarbonize maritime and inland waterway transport in sixteen countries, including Colombia. More than one hundred thirty sources of information were reviewed, including official portals of governments, port authorities and organizations, and scientific articles; therefore, the incentives found were grouped into three categories: project financing, differentiated port tariffs, and incentives to cover onshore power service fees. As a result of this review, it was found that differentiated port tariffs were the most common type of incentive. Finally, the specific case of Colombia was analyzed, which provides a deeper perspective of current policies and measures aimed at encouraging the decarbonization of waterborne transport and compares them with the international panorama.

Carbon Emissions in Transportation: A Synthesis Framework

“…Oguntona [59] identifies emissions trading, emission limit setting, fuel routes, and airport taxes as carbon mitigation measures in aircraft fleets. Camargo-Diaz et al [71] review alternative economic incentives to decarbonise maritime and inland waterway transportation, classified into project financing, port tariffs, and onshore power service fees. Port tariffs are the most common incentive found in the review.…”

Identification of economic incentives for the electrification of river and maritime modes: proposal for the Colombian Case

“…In general terms, subsidies, discounts and project financing programs by governments and private institutions are mechanisms that instead of charging polluters, encourage them to find ways to obtain grants, low-interest loans, discounts or tax exemptions, among others, as a reward for using new methods or technologies to reduce pollutant emissions (Camargo, C. et al, 2022).…”