The logo of Amazon is seen in Boves on the company logistics center in Amazon?
With about 90% of the world's trade carried by sea, global shipping accounts for nearly 3% of the CO 2 emissions and the industry is under increasing scrutiny to become cleaner.
The initiative was founded by the non-profit Aspen Institute and has nine signatories including others such as Unilever and Michelin. It starts a goal for companies to purchase ocean freight services powered by zero-carbon fuels by 2040.
The time to act is now, explained Edgar Blanco, director of net zero carbon for Amazon.
Elisabeth Munck af Rosensch ld, Sustainability Manager, Supply Chain Operations at Inter IKEA Group, said it was vital to work with others for developing ocean shipping fuel solutions.
The voice of the cargo owners is important since we are one of the stakeholders to enable transformation in the industry, she told Reuters.
We are not willing to share a premium for sustainability, but we are willing to share and co-create the solutions and automatically pay the necessary investments. A surge in demand for retail products while people have been stuck at home due to lockdowns has led to record high container shipping rates in recent months, compounded by port disruptions, which has also led to higher costs for cargo users.
Michelle Grose, head of logistics at Unilever, said logistics accounted for 15% of the group's total greenhouse gas emissions GHG footprint and Unilever was encouraging our existing carriers to switch to cleaner fuels By signaling our combined commitment to zero-emission shipping, we are confident that we will accelerate the transition at the pace and scale needed. The United Nations aims to reduce the industry's GHG by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050, with growing calls for a more ambitious target of complete decarbonisation by 2050.
A 50% reduction will require the rapid development of low or zero emission fuels and new designs for ships.