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Maersk cuts a decade off zero emissions target

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A.P. Moller – Maersk has moved up its target date for net zero greenhouse (GHG) emissions to 2040 and set new 2030 milestone targets.

The new net zero target cuts 10 years off the group’s previous 2050 target, and brings it further ahead of the current IMO 2050 ambition to reduce total annual emissions from shipping by at least 50% compared to 2008 levels

Maersk has commited to provide net zero supply chains to customers by 2040, and its targets cover all direct and indirect emissions across Maersk’s businesses. Indirect emissions include vessel building and inland transportation carried out by third party suppliers.

Maersk expects its emissions targets will align the company with the Net Zero criteria of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) pathway to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Maersk will follow SBTi’s recommendation during this decade “to go above and beyond the 1.5°C-aligned targets and invest in building a portfolio of natural climate solutions that will result in around five million tons of CO2 savings per year by 2030.”

Milestone targets have been set for 2030 to ensure progress this decade, including cutting emissions per transported container by 50% in the ocean fleet, and a 70% absolute reduction of greenhouse gases in its fully-controlled terminals. Absolute emission reductions from the ocean fleet will depend on fleet growth, but will range from 35%-50% from 2020 levels, said Maersk.

Elsewhere across the group, a minimum of 30% of air cargo will be transported using sustainable aviation fuels, and contract logistics and cold chain operations will have a minmum 90% use of fuels and energy with low or very low lifecycle GHG emissions. For its ocean vessels, Maersk backed methanol as a future fuel in August 2021 when it ordered eight dual-fuel 16,000 teu container ships at HHI.

“As a global provider of end-to-end logistics services across all transport modes, it is a strategic imperative for Maersk to extend our net zero ambition to the total footprint of the business. The science is clear, we must act now to deliver significant progress in this decade. These very ambitious targets mark our commitment to society and to the many customers who call for net zero supply chains,“ said Soren Skou, CEO of A.P. Moller - Maersk.