How to clean up the world's dirtiest industry | Joojin Kim

Elise Hu (0:03)

You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu.

When you picture the fight against climate change, do cargo ships come to mind? Perhaps not, but climate strategist Joojin Kim says decarbonizing shipping, the way the world moves its cargo, may be one of the single most powerful things we can do for the climate.

Joojin Kim (0:27)

If shipping was a country, it would be the sixth largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world.

Elise Hu (0:33)

In this talk, Joojin, who leads an organization called Solutions for Our Climate, explains why shipping is such a climate problem on three fronts. The fossil fuels these ships carry, the dirty fuel they burn, and even the coal-made steel they're built from. It all adds up to an enormous source of emissions, largely out of sight.

Joojin Kim (0:54)

Shipping is not a side issue in the climate crisis. It is one of the biggest hidden levers in the entire climate fight.

Elise Hu (1:00)

He says the whole system converges in one place, East Asia and South Korea especially, where the ships, the steel, and the financing behind them are concentrated. Squeeze that choke point, Joojin argues, and you could unlock a faster energy transition across the entire globe. His team has done it before with coal, and now they're coming for shipping. Stick around after the talk to hear from Ted's Hasiba Haq on what she saw when she visited Joojin's team in Seoul and why his approach to leadership left such a mark on her. That's coming up right after a short break.

And now, our TED Talk of the day.

Joojin Kim (1:48)

For those of us who are worried about climate change, it's no doubt challenging times. It feels like the end of the light of the tunnel gets further as companies and governments pull back. And I get it, it's hard to feel motivated with headlines like these. But that is not the full story. In reality, a shift towards a climate solution based economy is already underway. Not just because it protects the climate, but because it's becoming more profitable, more practical, and more affordable.

Despite all the setbacks, we will solve this problem. However, we have to be strategic. We cannot solve every climate problem at once. We have to identify the systems that can unlock many others, the places where one smart move can create ripple effects across the entire economy.

One of the most strategic, most powerful, but also most overlooked of those systems is shipping. If shipping was a country, it would be the sixth largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. Many of these ships aren't just powered by fossil fuels, they're built with fossil fuels, and they transport fossil fuels. Maritime shipping is a climate problem on three fronts. Three. One, for the cargo it carries. Crude oil and gas account for roughly one-third of maritime trade. Around half of natural gas is shipped in a liquefied form called LNG, and LNG trade has doubled during the past decade. Two, because of the fuel, ships burn. Most ships still burn heavy fuel oils or increasingly LNG, which releases carbon dioxide and methane, a dirty superpollutant that accelerates climate change and air pollution. Three, because of the steel ships are made of, most steel is made using dirty coal. Steel production is responsible for another 8% of global emissions. So shipping is not a side issue in the climate crisis. It is one of the biggest hidden levers in the entire climate fight, a system, if pulled the right way, which can unlock a faster energy transition. It's tempting to think of oceans as diffused and decentralized, but when it comes to ships, their supply chains converge in one place.

East Asia. South Korea in particular dominates global shipbuilding, steel production for ships, and the public finance behind them. And we are now at a critical moment, with Asia as a key leverage point.

The world has experienced how volatile fossil fuels are with the war in Ukraine. Again, we are experiencing the same with the war in the Middle East. Right now, East Asian economies are making a decision. Do we keep funding fossil fuels or pivot towards offshore wind installation vessels, green ammonia tankers, or ships made with clean steel? Because clean options don't scale just because they exist. They scale when policy, finance, and regulation align to make clean attractive. My organization, Solutions for Our Climate, works to do just that. And we're no beginner here. We've done it before with coal. From behind the scenes international negotiations to grassroots communities, from courtrooms to hilarious videos portraying dismal climate facts, we know what message to put in front of who, how, and when. Our work actually contributed to ending coal financing by the East Asian coal giants.