Copenhagen, Denmark (September 19, 2023) — Maersk and CMA CGM have announced that they will join forces to move shipping decarbonization forward, including setting net zero targets and investing in the energy transition, as well as working together to develop the use of alternative greener fuels for container ships. The Ship It Zero campaign calls on Maersk and CMA CGM to accelerate this transition from heavy fuel oils to truly zero-emission maritime fuel and technology fast enough to align with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warnings and peak their emissions before 2025 while cutting them in half from 2019 levels by 2030.

CMA CGM has additionally just moved forward with liquefied natural gas (LNG) newbuild orders. Methane emissions are 80 times more damaging to the climate than CO2, in the short term. Methane is notorious for fugitive emissions which are difficult to account for and occur frequently from production to end use.

STATEMENT FROM THE SHIP IT ZERO COALITION:

Eric Leveridge, Ship It Zero Lead, Pacific Environment, said: “We are encouraged by Maersk and CMA CGM’s partnership to move to green methanol-fueled ships, but we are still concerned about the use of fossil-fueled LNG ships and the climate destruction that they bring. The shipping industry must listen to the dire warnings from the IPCC and transition to real solutions now to peak the sector’s climate emissions before 2025 – not continue to support false solutions like LNG.”

EL PROBLEMA DE LA CONTAMINACIÓN DEL SECTOR MARÍTIMO

The global shipping industry accounts for 3% of global climate emissions, more than global air travel. If shipping were a country, it would be the world’s sixth largest climate polluter. But since maritime shipping negotiated itself out of the U.N. Paris Agreement, the effort to reduce emissions in the industry has been slower than in other sectors.

Approximately 90% of the world trade is transported by sea, and current business-as-usual scenarios project emissions will grow up to 50% over 2018 levels. While the International Maritime Organization noted increased ship size and operational improvements aimed at creating better fuel efficiency have resulted in a decrease in emissions intensity, annual absolute emissions are still increasing.

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Ship It Zero es una campaña por el clima y la salud pública para que las mayores empresas del mundo pasen a un transporte marítimo con un 100% de emisiones cero. Insta a empresas como Walmart, Home Depot, Amazon, Target e IKEA a que pasen a utilizar buques de carga con un 100% de emisiones cero para 2030. Este objetivo garantizará que el sector del transporte marítimo contribuya a mantener el calentamiento global por debajo de 1,5 grados centígrados, el objetivo que, según los científicos, es necesario para evitar las peores consecuencias de la crisis climática.

Media Contact:

Gwen Dobbs, Campaign Communications Director, Pacific Environment, gdobbs@pacificenvironment.org