7 February 2024 (Lloyd's List) - MAERSK’S 2030 and 2040 emission reduction targets have been validated by the independent organisation Science-Based Targets Initiative, making it the first major shipping company to validate its target aligned with the United Nations’ Paris Agreement’s aims to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

Maersk has a net-zero target by 2040, while the company also committed to cut Scope 1 emissions by 35% by 2030 and Scope 2 emissions by 100% by the end of this decade. The logistics giant’s Scope 3 emission reduction target by 2030 is 22%.

The company aims to cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 96% by 2040 and its Scope 3 target is 90% by 2040.

Baseline year for all targets is 2022 and the company considers full lifecycle emissions for all targets in line with SBTI.

“Following the publication of the long-awaited SBTI sectoral framework for maritime shipping in late 2022, we have, during 2023, done extensive work to prepare and submit 2030 and 2040 targets. These have successfully been validated by the SBTI as the first in the shipping industry, allowing us to deliver on our public commitment to externally verified emissions reduction targets.”

Maersk’s total greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 were at 82.9m tonnes of CO2, which was 4% higher than its previous calculation of 79.5m tonnes, as it recalculated its emissions in line with SBTI standards.

“The SBTI-validated targets are not directly connected to our previous business segment sub-targets. They have a different baseline year (2022), reflecting that 2022 is a more representative baseline compared to the previous two years of pandemic, and enabling us to take recent acquisitions into account in the baseline.”

Maersk’s SBTI-validated targets are for absolute emission reductions, rather than relative intensity targets, the company said.

“We are setting specific targets for scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions across Maersk, with required sub-targets for certain operations and GHG sources — in particular related to ocean activities as we follow the maritime sector framework.”

Nearly 42% of Maersk’s GHG emissions were under Scope 1, of which fuel use in ocean operations accounted for 92%, while Scope 3 emissions made up nearly 58%. Scope 2 emissions accounted for less than 1%.

The company’s decarbonisation strategy has two key levers in fuel efficiency and transitioning to green fuels. Since the summer of 2023, Maersk has received its first two dual-fuel methanol containerships.

Maersk reduced the Energy Efficiency Operating Indicator of its fleet to a record-low of 11.68 in 2023, from 13 in 2022, as the company used efficiency technologies on owned and time charter vessels including new and improved propellers, bulbous bows, shore power enablement. It also bunkered with second-generation biodiesel to reduce emissions.

Other shipping companies have been struggling to set SBTI-validated targets, as CMA CGM and Wallenius Wilhelmsen failed to do so in a two-year period after committing to set targets.

SBTI previously validated the targets of NYK Line, K Line and Höegh Autoliners, although these targets were aligned with 2°C  or below 2°C, as SBTI previously accepted such targets. The organisation no longer accepts targets not aligned with 1.5°C.

Few other shipping firms have committed to setting SBTI validated targets, including Evergreen, Crowley Maritime and Stolt Tankers, among others.