ICS: Shaping the Future of Shipping at COP26
Shipping is one of the world’s most important industries, but one of the hardest to decarbonise. For five years, we have acted as lead communications adviser to the International Chamber of Shipping, supporting a global press office programme to build support for a carbon pricing mechanism in shipping. The task was difficult. We had to help win over a sceptical global industry, regulators, governments, and international media, while translating complex policy and market proposals into language people could understand and trust.
Impact
Our work helped turn a complex market proposal into a serious global policy issue. International governments greenlit the world’s first global carbon price for shipping, a major step for a sector long seen as difficult to regulate. The campaign helped position the International Chamber of Shipping as a serious voice on decarbonisation, capable of bringing industry, governments, and regulators into the same conversation. It also showed how careful communications can move a regulated system from technical debate to political action.
Approach
We built a communications programme that made a technical policy proposal clear, credible, and politically relevant. We supported the launch of a £5 billion research and development fund, with architecture that later helped shape the global carbon price. We also managed industry events across three COPs, giving the proposal a platform with governments, media, and industry leaders at decisive moments. When the proposals came under direct attack from the US administration ahead of a critical UN gathering, we managed a coordinated global crisis response, protecting the argument and keeping industry voices aligned.
