The drivers and barriers of environmental upgrading in Norwegian short-sea shipping

The shipping industry is under considerable pressure to reduce its environmental impacts and reduce its emissions. Shipping is a hard-to-adapt industry and issues of environmental upgrading are under-investigated, despite recent emerging literature. This thesis aims to contribute to the growing literature by furthering environmental upgrading perspectives in global industries. The purpose of this thesis is to examine and understand the main drivers and barriers for environmental upgrading in global value chains, conceptualized through Norwegian short-sea shipping. By employing global value chain perspectives to issues of environmental upgrading, this thesis understands the interconnected nature of the problem, thus emphasising the importance of developing the whole value chain simultaneously. It has examined environmental upgrading in Norwegian short-sea shipping through a qualitative case study consisting of nine semi-structured interviews triangulated with secondary data. This thesis has identified the main drivers and barriers for environmental upgrading in Norwegian short-sea shipping, categorized into the dimensions of; politics and regulations; the market and societal pressure; and innovation, technology, and adaptability. I argue that environmental upgrading is likely to happen when these dimensions facilitate fair and just development across the industry, allowing deep value chain collaborations and where market structures do not hinder sustainable development. Furthermore, I will make the case that national and international governance structures are essential for environmental upgrading and that Norway is characterized by multiple and interacting governance structures, which have changed and evolved as the industry has matured. Moreover, I will also highlight the importance of looking at environmental upgrading as an innovation process involving vertical interaction and cooperation