Shrinking shipping's environmental footprint

THE giant shipping group Maersk made an important commitment at the BSR Conference 2014 in New York a couple of weeks ago. BSR is a global not-for-profit organisation that works with a network of more than 250 member companies to "build a just and sustainable world". The conference focused on transparency and how supply chains can be transformed for a sustainable future.

Maersk Group CEO Nils Andersen announced a new CO2 reduction target for the group's container shipping arm Maersk Line, of 60 per cent by 2020. Maersk says this reflects its strategy of balancing growth and trade with environmental impact.

Mr Andersen said that the challenge was to increase trade and economic well-being for a growing population while mitigating negative impacts to the climate and environment, not least, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. CO2 is regarded the main "greenhouse gases" (GHG) that contribute to global warming.