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.”

SHIPPING INDUSTRY’S POLLUTION PROBLEM

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 is a climate and public health campaign to move the world’s largest companies to 100% zero-emissions ocean shipping. It urges companies such as Walmart, Home Depot, Amazon, Target and IKEA — to transition to 100% zero-emissions cargo shipping vessels by 2030. This ​​goal will ensure the shipping industry does its fair share in helping to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius, the target scientists say is needed to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis.

Media Contact:

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