The IWSA Secretary General attended both the Monaco Blue Economy & Finance Forum that featured quite a number of French wind propulsion OEMs and then the UNOC proceedings in Nice, where he spoke at a number of side events and took part in the policy deliberations. The French President, Emmanuel Macron’s statement these proceedings also references wind propulsion:

“…with an agreement to define a path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the maritime sector. This is historic; we’ve been waiting for it for a long time. A minimum twenty percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and neutrality by 2050, with a simple mechanism to reward those who take action and invest in sails and sustainable fuels, with a form of bonus and a penalty for those who lag behind in the transition.

And that’s exactly what we’re doing collectively, and it’s working. I’ll give a very concrete example. To produce our rockets, including launching satellites that allow us to observe the Earth, the climate, and our oceans. Until now, we did this with huge ships that were quite polluting. Now, with ships like the Canopée, which carries the Ariane rocket, Canopée uses wind energy and produces thirty percent less CO₂.

Well, such a boat is now rewarded, and the entire ecosystem will be encouraged in this direction. This is why, to support this decision by the International Maritime Organization last April, France has decided to earmark revenues from the European carbon market for transport to finance the decarbonization of the maritime sector.”