NYK Chairman Hitoshi Nagasawa spoke at the public-private sessions¹ of the G7 Transport Ministers' Meeting² held in Shima City, Mie Prefecture, on June 17. NYK was the sole company from the shipping industry to participate.

Following keynote speeches by representatives of the International Transport Forum³ and another organization, public sector delegates from G7 countries and the EU shared their countries’ policies on this year’s theme of "Innovation for Accessible and Sustainable Transport," and private sector representatives offered world-leading initiatives on the same theme.

The private sector in the transportation sector was represented by two companies, including NYK and a startup, from Japan, which is serving as the G7 presidency, as well as seven organizations from other G7 countries and the EU, including relevant agencies and corporations.

NYK Chairman Nagasawa presented the NYK Group’s efforts toward social implementation of the world's first ammonia-fueled vessel with a domestic engine (i.e., ammonia-fueled tugboat and ammonia-fueled ammonia carrier) as an initiative related to sustainability. This initiative has been adopted by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) under its Green Innovation Fund Project⁴ and is being promoted in collaboration with partner companies in Japan.

Nagasawa also stated that shipping has a major role and responsibility in realizing a decarbonized society and expressed NYK’s determination to work with the Japanese maritime industry to lead the decarbonization of global shipping. He additionally stressed the need to establish rules that will soundly promote the decarbonization of shipping, including the use of ammonia and other zero-emission fuels, and called for understanding and cooperation from officials of other countries.

Going forward, the NYK Group will continue to co-create with various countries and diverse stakeholders and lead the decarbonization of the world's shipping industry as a leading company in addressing climate change.

On March 10, 2023, the NYK Group released its medium-term management plan “Sail Green, Drive Transformations 2026 — A Passion for Planetary Wellbeing. ” The NYK Group is promoting growth strategies with ESG at the core, based on the Group’s basic philosophy of “Bringing value to life” and a new corporate vision for 2030, which reads, “we go beyond the scope of a comprehensive global logistics enterprise to co-create value required for the future by advancing our core business and growing new ones.”

¹ Public-Private Sessions
Participants from private companies and research institutes from G7 countries were invited to present their best practices and research and development on a set theme, share with G7 Ministers of Transportation the challenges they face in introducing and spreading the technology in the real world, and discuss the importance of public-private partnerships and the future of such alliances.

² G7 Transport Ministers' Meeting in Ise-Shima, Mie
A thematic ministerial meeting held in conjunction with the G7 Summit, where G7 transport ministers and EU transport commissioners gather to discuss important themes that will influence the future of transport and society as a whole, as well as the primary directions to be taken. The meeting was held in Shima City in the Ise-Shima region of Mie Prefecture from June 16 to 18, 2023.

³ International Transport Forum (ITF)
An international organization affiliated with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the ITF is a forum for the free exchange of views and research on transport policy among its 64 member countries, transport-related companies, experts, and others. The ITF is the only international organization that covers all modes of transportation. It serves as a platform for international discussion and pre-negotiation to promote a deeper understanding of the role of transport in economic growth, sustainability, and social inclusion, and to raise the profile of transport policy. The ITF holds an annual summit of transport ministers each year.

⁴ Green Innovation Fund Project
The fund will provide continuous support for up to 10 years, from R&D and demonstration to social implementation for companies and others that address green issues as management issues, based on ambitious and concrete goals shared by the public and private sectors. Support is provided mainly in the 14 priority fields for which action plans have been formulated in the Green Growth Strategy.