Cargo Owners for Zero Emission Vessels Adds Members, Enhancing 2040 Target

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zero emission vessels (Credit: Pixabay)

Cargo Owners for Zero Emission Vessels has added several top companies in its effort to appeal to all cargo owners to switch their ocean freight to vessels powered by zero-carbon sources by 2040.

The new additions to the organization include Beiersdorf, DuPont, Electrolux, ETTLI Kaffee, Moose Toys, Ohana Beverage Company, Philips, REI Co-op, Sisley, and Target. There are now 19 companies that are part of the endeavor that launched in 2021 to demonstrate what it calls the business case for investment in zero-emission fuels and technologies to achieve full maritime industry decarbonization.

Since the Cargo Owners for Zero Emission Vessels (coZEV) first released its 2040 ambition statement, it says several of the largest container carriers in the world revealed plans to build and launch transoceanic dual-fuel container ships that can use zero-emission fuels by the middle of this decade.  The statement is an initiative facilitated by the Aspen Institute.

coZEV says without changes the maritime shipping industry risks increasing its emissions while other industries make improvements. The group says without changes, shipping’s emissions could change from 3% of the world’s total to 10% by 2050.

The International Council on Clean Transportation says maritime shipping carries more than 80% of the world’s trade by volume. It says the industry could create more than 17% of human-caused emissions by 2050, but that increased uses of biofuels, advanced technologies, and operational improvements could lower maritime emissions by more than 70% in that time.

The goal is to see a significant ambition to transition to zero-emission fuels by the mid-2020s, achieve scalability in those fuels by 2030, have zero-emission fuels more widely used than fossil fuels by 2040, and fully decarbonize maritime shipping by 2050 at the latest.

Other steps that have been taken since the forming of the group include other agreements such as the Los Angeles – Shanghai Green Shipping Corridor Partnership and the maritime shipping commitments of the First Movers Coalition. Members of the organization IKEA, Unilever, and Tchibo, also have called on the European Union to accelerate shipping decarbonization and incentives through the FuelEU Maritime proposal.

Regulations impacting the shipping industry include the International Maritime Organization requiring ship owners to report Carbon Intensity Scores starting in 2023. These types of increasing policies have advanced technologies, such as an artificial intelligence-based platform from Bearing that can monitor a vessel’s emissions output.

Royal Caribbean and Maersk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping also have an agreement to help decarbonize the industry. French maritime transport company Zéphyr & Borée is working on a ship with a wind-assisted propulsion system, and Maersk also has tested an offshore charging system.

Original members of coZEV include Amazon, Michelin, Brooks Running, Frog Bikes, Inditex, and Patagonia.

“The global economy’s maritime decarbonization journey is still in its early stages, but such progress in less than a year confirms for us that cargo owners can drive impact quickly when they come together,” says coZEV Director Ingrid Irigoyen.

Environment + Energy Leader