Photo by william william on Unsplash

Nine multinational giants sign up to 2040 zero-carbon shipping plan

Nine multinational companies, including Amazon and IKEA, have stated their intention to transition all of their ocean freight to zero-carbon shipping by 2040.

You can read this article in 2 minutes

The multinational giants have signed up to the Cargo Owners for Zero Emission Vessels (coZEV) initiative created by the non-profit organisation Aspen Institute.

In a statement, Apsen Insitute said that the signatories are committed to aligning their ocean shipping with the 1.5°C goal in the Paris Agreement, and are also sending a “critical demand signal” for the adoption of zero-carbon fuels.

Commenting on the plans, Elisabeth Munck af Rosenschöld, Sustainability Manager Supply Chain Operations at Inter IKEA Group, said that there was a need to accelerate the move to green shipping:

“We need to accelerate the transformation towards zero emission ocean shipping. By collaborating with like-minded partners, we can create strong movements. With this ambition statement, we want to demonstrate our determination to reach set targets and to instil confidence among all stakeholders on the direction of our common decarbonizing journey ahead.”

Besides signing up to the coZEV initiative, IKEA has also announced a plan to reduce the average carbon footprint from every transport to its stores by 70% by 2030, compared to the baseline year 2017.

Another big name that has signed up to coZEV is Unilever. The company aims to have emissions-free operations by 2030 and net zero emissions in its value chain by 2039. Moreover, Unilever says it is switching to 100% renewable energy and electric vehicles, and is “working with its suppliers and innovation partners to scale up solutions that protect people and planet.”

Ecommerce giant Amazon is part of coZEV too. Edgar Blanco, Amazon’s director of net-zero carbon, said that “The time to act is now” and added “we welcome other cargo owner companies who want to lead on addressing climate change to join us in collaboration.”


Photo by william william on Unsplash

Tags