Maersk 1st shipping firm to join the Climate Pledge

March 15, 2022, by Naida Hakirevic Prevljak

Danish shipping and logistics giant Maersk has joined The Climate Pledge, a cross-sector community of companies and organizations that have committed to decarbonizing their businesses.

On 14 March 2022, the climate action initiative welcomed nearly 100 new signatories including Maersk, US marine robotics company Ocean Infinity and others.

Together, pledge signatories in total generate over $3.5 trillion in global annual revenues and have more than 8 million employees across 51 industries in 29 countries – demonstrating the collective impact The Climate Pledge can have in addressing climate change.

In 2019, Amazon and Global Optimism co-founded The Climate Pledge, a commitment to reach the Paris Agreement 10 years early and be net zero carbon by 2040.

Now, 312 organizations have signed The Climate Pledge, sending an important signal that there will be rapid growth in demand for products and services that help reduce carbon emissions.

Specifically, signatories to The Climate Pledge must agree to:

Measure and report greenhouse gas emissions on a regular basis;
Implement decarbonization strategies in line with the Paris Agreement through real business changes and innovations, including efficiency improvements, renewable energy, materials reductions, and other carbon emission elimination strategies;
Neutralize any remaining emissions with additional, quantifiable, real, permanent, and socially beneficial offsets to achieve net-zero annual carbon emissions by 2040.

Maersk’s journey to deliver net zero by 2040

In January this year, Maersk set ambitious targets for the entire group to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2040 – one decade ahead of its initial 2050 ambition.

The company unveiled new aspiring emission targets expected to align the company with the Net Zero criteria of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) pathway to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

They include a societal commitment to act now and drive material impact in this decade, and a commitment to deliver net-zero supply chains to customers by 2040.

To contribute to its decarbonization efforts, Maersk ordered last year a fleet of twelve 16,000 TEU ocean-going containerships capable of being operated on carbon-neutral methanol.

Last week, it entered several strategic partnerships to secure green fuel supply for its fleet of twelve new methanol-powered vessels. The company intends to source at least 730,000 tonnes/year by end of 2025.