Container lines outshine shippers in environmental standingsContainer lines outshine shippers in environmental standings

Ship It Zero, a collective of US environmental groups has devised a scoring method to rate the decarbonisation efforts of both shippers and shipping lines, with ratings made by the environmental group on its three demands; to end port pollution; abandon dirty ships and to put zero at the helm.

Two shippers, Ashley Furniture and Living Spaces scored a shocking 0 out of 100 while Costco fared little better with 8/100, all were graded F. In total 15 of the 19 shippers, close to 80% were graded F.

Shippers, somewhat predictably, are questioning the value of such an accreditation scheme without definitions of what is classified as green being provided. Global Shippers’ Forum director James Hookham asks, “Who set the standards and are those standards scientific and transparent?”

He added, “Naming and shaming doesn’t help motivate people, we all know there is a problem.”

Of the 10 shipping lines graded only four, 40%, were graded F, while Pacific International Lines (PIL) were lowest with a score of 17/100 and Taiwan’s two largest lines, Yang Ming and Evergreen only managed 39 and 39.5/100, with a surprising F grade for German carrier Hapag-Lloyd, with a total score of 33.5.

Predictably Scandinavia scored high in both the carrier and shipper lists with Maersk graded B with a creditable 76.5/100 only topped by IKEA with 89/100, but still only managed a B+ grading, rather than an A.

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Among other big names both Nike and H&M were graded D and scored 45/100 and 46.5/100 respectivelly.

According to Ship It Zero its “Shipping Decarbonization Report Card is designed to evaluate major retailers and shipping carriers on their commitment to rapid decarbonisation and development of zero emissions fuels for maritime shipping.”

Ship It Zero say that few shippers have taken responsibility for helping to decarbonise shipping. “Many are not even quantifying Scope 3 emissions, which includes shipping”, said the group.

Moreover, shipping lines are not decarbonising fast enough and have not considered the impact on port communities.

“Most carriers have only committed to carbon neutrality by 2050, a timeframe that will not limit global temperature rise to 1.5° C, and carriers are reliant on false solutions like LNG and scrubbers,” said the environmental group.