On the occasion of its 125th year anniversary on 24 January, Antwerp-based shipping company Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) announced it has offset all its CO2 emissions in order to have net zero CO2 emissions as from 2020, reports the Maritime Executive.
Net-Zero operation
To achieve net-zero operation, the company has supported certified climate projects in developing countries and acquired voluntary carbon units in Zambia (carbon-reducing agricultural and forest management practices), Guatemala (forest management) and India (wind and solar parks).
Carbon offsets have attracted both praise and scrutiny in recent years over questions of permanence and effectiveness. However, CMB does not intend to rely on offsets for the long term.
Rather than aiming for the IMO target of a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050, CMB aims to go fully zero-carbon (not just fully-offset) over the same period.
Zero carbon emissions
The company said, “CMB firmly believes in zero carbon emissions from its shipping operations and aims to achieve this by 2050.“
“Many low carbon and zero carbon technologies are already in the early stages of development, and CMB is convinced that the shipping industry will find solutions to today’s problems to provide zero carbon shipping by 2050,” the company added.
In addition, CMB is already investing heavily in the development of low and zero carbon ships and engines.
Under a 2019 agreement, the company is currently building the HydroTug, the world’s first hydrogen-powered tugboat, expected to start operations at the Port of Antwerp in two years.
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Source: Maritime Executive
