World's largest shipping company commits to phasing out fossil fuels
Date: 08-Jan-19
Author: Liam Taylor
Maersk is the world's largest shipping company with market share of around 17%. Image Kyle Ryan/Unsplash
Danish-based shipping company Maersk have committed to a carbon neutral ship fleet with complete phasing out of fossil fuels by 2050.
Maersk has been the largest container ship and supply vessel operator in the world since 1996, with around 88,000 employees operating across 130 countries. In 2017 the company’s annual revenue totalled US$35 billion (almost 50 million AUD).
Over the past four years the company has already invested an estimated US$1 billion in reducing their carbon footprint, reducing total carbon emissions by 25%. Since shipping vessels generally have a shelf-life of between 20 and 25 years, Maersk hopes to have all ships replaced with clean energy-powered vessels by 2050.
“The next 5 to 10 years are going to be crucial,” Chief Operating Officer Søren Toft told Good News Network.
“We will invest significant resources for innovation and fleet technology to improve the technical and financial viability of decarbonized solutions. The only possible way to achieve the so-much-needed decarbonization in our industry is by fully transforming to new carbon neutral fuels and supply chains.”
International shipping contributed approximately 1 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the period 2007 to 2012, representing about 3% of total global emissions. The EU has called for a global approach to reducing GHG emissions from shipping, arguing ships’ energy consumption and emissions could be reduced by up to 75% by applying operational measures and implementing existing technologies.
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Positive Environment News has been compiled using publicly available information. Planet Ark does not take responsibility for the accuracy of the original information and encourages readers to check the references before using this information for their own purposes.
Author: Liam Taylor
Liam is Planet Ark's Communications Coordinator.
Prior to joining Planet Ark Liam spent his time studying global environmental issues, travelling Southeast Asia on the cheap and working for a sustainable property management company in Bali, Indonesia.
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