CMA CGM Enters Sustainability Partnership with Panalpina

French ocean carrier CMA CGM and Panalpina, the world’s fourth biggest ocean freight forwarder by transport volumes, have signed a sustainability agreement aimed at reducing their respective carbon emissions by 2025.

As of 2020, newbuild LNG-powered mega-vessels with a capacity of 22,000 twenty-foot containers (TEUs) will help achieve the environmental goals.

Aiming at responsible development in ocean freight, Panalpina and CMA CGM have signed a sustainability agreement for maritime transport.
“Partnering with strategic partners such as CMA CGM that are technology driven and share a similar vision of sustainability, and using them to transport our customers’ cargo will help us achieve our ambitious sustainability goals,” says Lindsay Zingg, Panalpina’s global head of quality, health, safety and environment (QHSE).

Panalpina is one of only 140 companies globally with approved Science Based Targets where the company – amongst other targets – commits to reduce CO2 emissions from subcontracted transportation by 22 percent by 2025 (baseline 2013).

CMA CGM, one of the world’s largest box ship carriers, aims to reduce carbon emissions per standard container (TEU) transported by 30 percent by 2025 (baseline 2015).

“We are determined to reach that goal by investing in highly fuel-efficient vessels, making constant technical improvements, and retrofitting our fleet,” says Julien Topenot, head of environment and sustainability at CMA CGM.

Marseilles-based CMA CGM, which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, was the first shipping company to order container ships propelled by liquefied natural gas (LNG). Nine LNG-powered mega-vessels or ULCVs (Ultra Large Container Vessels) with a capacity of 22,000 TEUs are scheduled for delivery in 2020.

“Compared to current fuel-powered vessels, our new LNG vessels will enable a reduction of up to 25 percent in CO2. They will also generate 99 percent less sulphur emissions, 99 percent less fine particles and 85 percent less nitrogen oxides emissions,” explains Topenot.

“We are already using CMA CGM’s most efficient and environmentally-friendly services. With this new agreement, both Panalpina and CMA CGM reinforce their commitment to sustainability,” adds Zingg.

In 2017, Panalpina transported 1.5 million TEUs, making it the fourth biggest ocean freight forwarder in the world.

In the same year, with a fleet of approximately 500 vessels including energy-efficient ships such as the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and more than 200 services that cover all of the world’s seas, CMA CGM transported 19 million TEUs.

The scope of the sustainability agreement between CMA CGM and Panalpina goes beyond the reduction of the environmental impact via eco-friendly transport solutions. The companies have committed to collaborate, innovate and improve in four key areas: the environment, ethics and compliance, social responsibility, and community.

Initiatives where CMA GGM and Panalpina intend to work more closely together include occupational health and safety programs, local sourcing as well as emergency relief and support.