Kudos to CMA CGM for Joining the United Nations Global Compact

While more than 50 world leaders convene this week for the 2019 United Nations Climate Change (COP25) conference at Madrid’s IFEMA convention center, a major ocean cargo carrier has joined the largest international voluntary initiative for sustainable development.

According to spokesmen, this commitment is in line with CMA CGM Group’s initiatives for environmental protection and its “pioneering role” in the industry’s energy transition.

Within the Global Compact, CMA CGM will join the Business Action Platform for the Ocean, a technical network dedicated to marine issue.

This was welcome news to global supply chain managers and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who noted that important decisions must be taken “now” to limit emissions that cause the greenhouse effect.

“Our planet is close to the point of no return,” he added, urging participants to cut pollutant emissions at this critical juncture in the war on climate change.

Supply chain managers recognized that thanks to its ambitious environmental initiatives, CMA CGM Group has reduced its CO2 emissions per container transported by 50% between 2005 and 2015 and has set a new reduction target of an additional 30% by 2025.

By joining the Global Compact, the Group will continue its proactive actions in this area, which have been underway for many years:

• A pioneering commitment to the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for large capacity vessels. LNG reduces sulphur oxide and fine particulate emissions by 99%, nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 85% and CO2 emissions by around 20%. By the end of 2022, the CMA CGM Group will have 20 LNG-powered vessels;
• CMA CGM has decided that none of its vessels will use the Northern Sea Routes in order to preserve the fragile and unique ecosystems of the Arctic. CMA CGM was the first Group in the world to make this commitment, which was welcomed and followed by many actors in the maritime industry;
• The world’s first partnership to successfully test a latest-generation biofuel, made from recycled vegetable oils and forest residues, that reduces CO2 emissions by 80% over the entire life cycle. Test carried out in partnership with IKEA and The GoodShipping Program;
• The development of numerous advanced eco-technologies on the Group’s fleet to improve its performance and reduce energy consumption: optimization of bows' shape for better hydrodynamic efficiency, innovations on the propellers and the engines to reduce fuel and oil consumption;
• The creation of a Fleet Center to which all the Group’s vessels (506) are connected 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; this unique system in the maritime transport industry makes it possible to optimize shipping routes in order to combine operational efficiency, safety and fuel consumption optimization, thus reducing CO2 emissions.

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