- Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping company, tops the list of 12 liner companies based on their sustainability performance reporting and planning.
- The company won 4.9 stars out of possible 5.0, the Gliese Foundation said.
- The company differs considerably from other liners in the detail of reporting and assumes responsibility for its share of pollution in the sector.
- While its counterparts tend to be rather vague in their commitments and plans.
- Maersk is targetting to have net-zero emissions from its shipping activities by 2050, which is much more ambitious than the IMO’s targets.
According to a recent news article published in Ajot and Offshore Energy, Maersk has received around 4.9 stars out of possible 5.0.
Maersk and its two strategic targets
The company states that its two strategic targets on CO2 emissions are:
1) To have net-zero CO2 emissions from its own operations by 2050, which includes having commercially viable, net-zero vessels on the water by 2030.
2) To deliver a 60% relative reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030 compared to 2008 levels.
“We determined where the vast majority of our investments in new fuels will go in the next years, zooming in on three potential fuel types based on alcohols (methanol and ethanol), bio-methane and ammonia,” Maersk’s CEO Soren Skou said in the report.
How Maersk topped the list?
The difference with other liners starts from the beginning: while most companies play the traditional card that shipping transports about 90% of the global trade and shipping CO2 emissions are barely less than 3%, Maersk assumes the responsibility: “Our industry is a significant contributor to global GHG emissions, which is why we have set ambitious CO2 targets for Maersk.”
Maersk is unique
Maersk is the only liner that has gone to the level of detail of identifying twenty-five targets from twelve goals that the company is impacting: 2.1, 2.2, 3.9, 5.1, 5.2, 7.3, 8.2, 8.3, 8.5, 8.7, 8.8, 9.3, 10.2, 10.3, 12.3, 12.6, 13.1, 14.1, 14.3, 16.3, 16.5, 17.1, 17.6, 17.10, and 17.16.
As mentioned in previous reviews, once we released the twelve independent reviews.
They will analyze some cross-sectional issues, one of them will be the enormous disagreement among liners about the SDGs their operations are impacting, almost as if they were on different lines of business and not all carrying containers.
They will explain the goals and targets that according to us they should include in future Sustainability Reports.
Maersk’s Sustainability Report
In summary, Maersk has presented us with an outstanding Sustainability Report. We can see a company that is not only reporting on its actions during 2019 as most liners do, but it has moved to a different dimension of reporting:
It shows the strategy, the great vision towards the decarbonization of the shipping industry, which in the case of Maersk has the deadline of 2050, much more ambitious than the timid goals by the IMO, which is requiring only half of those results to the shipping industry.
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Source: Ajot & Offshore Energy
