Maersk joins first mover coalition to drive demand for carbon neutral solutions in hard to abate-industries

4 November 2021

Mover Collation — Alongside representatives from leading global brands and in the presence of US President Biden and EC President von der Leyen, Henriette Hallberg Thygesen (back row, #3 from the right) today signed A.P. Moller - Maersk up to the First Movers' Coalition

Roughly half of the emission reductions needed to reach the 2050 climate goals rely on technologies in early development, demonstration or prototype phases. Accelerating innovation in this decade is critical to bring these technologies to market and make them cost-competitive.

To jumpstart this effort, the World Economic Forum, in partnership with US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, announced the First Movers Coalition - a new platform for companies to make purchasing commitments that create new market demand for low carbon technologies.

Alongside global brands such as Amazon and Apple, A.P. Moller - Maersk is a founding member of the coalition.

“We still have a long way to go, but it is very encouraging to see that the ball is rolling. Im delighted for us at Maersk to sign up to such a strong initiative and to see leading companies in hard to abate sectors make bold net zero commitments, this is what is needed to drive real climate action in this decade,” says Henriette Hallberg Thygesen, A.P. Moller - Maersk CEO of Fleet & Strategic Brands, who in the presence of EC President Ursula Von der Leyen and U.S. President Joe Biden signed Maersk up to the initiative at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland.

We still have a long way to go, but it is very encouraging to see that the ball is rolling. I'm delighted for us at Maersk to sign up to such a strong initiative and to see leading companies in hard to abate sectors make bold net zero commitments, this is what is needed to drive real climate action in this decade.

Henriette Hallberg Thygesen,

A.P. Moller - Maersk CEO of Fleet & Strategic Brands

Maersk is signing up to a target that at least 5% of its deep-sea shipping operations will be powered by zero-emission fuels by 2030. The commitments aim to be collectively significant enough to commercialize decarbonization technologies. They follow similar ambitions from leading global retailers last month, where brands including Unilever, Ikea and Inditex announced a target to progressively switch all of their ocean freight to vessels powered by zero-carbon fuels by 2040.

Milestones in this decade

The First Movers Coalition will create long-term impact by driving milestones this decade through investment into technological solutions across eight key sectors.

Technology has given us the tools to reduce our emissions and build a stronger and more inclusive economy of the future. For innovators and investors to play their part in tackling the climate crisis, they need clear market demand. The First Movers Coalition will leverage the collective purchasing power of leading companies and drive the need for these technologies. I call on business leaders to work with us and be the role models keeping our climate goals alive.

Borge Brende,

President of the World Economic Forum

Seven of the chosen sectors — steel, cement, aluminum, chemicals, shipping, aviation, and trucking—account for more than a third of global carbon emissions, but do not have cost-competitive clean energy alternatives to fossil fuels. The eighth, direct air capture, could reduce atmospheric carbon-dioxide levels to help achieve net-zero global emissions but also requires technological innovation to reach commercial viability.

The First Movers Coalition is a platform for the world’s leading global companies to make purchasing commitments to create early markets for critical technologies needed to achieve net-zero by 2050. In this critical decade, we not only need to deploy as rapidly as possible existing clean energy technologies, such as wind turbines, solar panel, and battery storage, but also drive innovation for our long-term decarbonization goals.

John Kerry,

US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate

Founding members have made commitments in one or more of these sectors.
The remaining sectoral commitments will launch in early 2022.

Shipping: Members commit to use zero-emission fuels in new and in retrofitted zero-emission vessels by 2030. Carriers set a target that at least 5% of their deep-sea shipping will be powered by zero-emission fuels by 2030, enabled by ships capable of using zero-emission fuels. Cargo owners set a target that at least 10% of the volume of their goods shipped internationally will be on ships using zero-emission fuels by 2030, on the way to 100% by 2040.

Aviation: Members commit to use emerging technologies including sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) with significant emissions reductions, electric, and hydrogen propulsion for air travel by 2030.

Airlines and air transport companies set a target of replacing at least 5% of conventional jet fuel demand with SAF that reduces life-cycle GHG emissions by 85% or more when compared with conventional jet fuel, and/or using zero-carbon emitting propulsion technologies by 2030.

Airfare and air freight purchasers set a target of replacing at least 5% of conventional jet fuel demand for air transport with SAF that reduce life-cycle GHG emissions by 85% or more when compared with conventional jet fuel, and/or zero-carbon emitting propulsion technologies by 2030 – in partnership with air transport operators.

Trucking: Members commit to purchase or contract zero-emission medium and heavy-duty vehicles by 2030. These can include battery or fuel-cell electric vehicles and also incorporate renewable sources of electricity and hydrogen for charging. Trucking owners and operators also set a target that at least 30% of their heavy-duty and 100% of their medium-duty truck purchases will be zero-emission trucks by 2030. Retailers & manufacturers set a target that they will require all of their trucking service providers to meet the trucking owners and operators’ commitment by 2030.

Steel: Members commit to purchasing volumes of near-zero emissions steel by 2030. The deployment of breakthrough iron and steelmaking technology is needed to deliver a net-zero steel sector with minimal residual emissions. These technologies include hydrogen direct reduction, carbon capture use and storage, and electrolysis-based production processes. Steel purchasers set a target that at least 10% of their annual steel procurement volumes by 2030 meet or exceed the First Movers Coalition definition for near-zero emissions steel.

A.P. Møller - Mærsk
Aker ASA
Agility
Airbus
Amazon
Apple
Bain & Company
Bank of America
Boston Consulting Group
Boeing
Cemex
Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited
Delta Air Lines
Deutsche Post DHL Group
ENGIE
Fortescue Metals Group
Holcim
Invenergy
Johnson Controls
Mahindra Group
Nokia
Ørsted
ReNew Power
Scania
SSAB Swedish Steel
Trafigura Group
Trane Technologies
United Airlines
Vattenfall
Volvo Group
Yara International
Western Digital
ZF Friedrichshafen AG

About A.P. Moller - Maersk

A.P. Moller - Maersk is an integrated container logistics company working to connect and simplify its customers’ supply chains. As the global leader in shipping services, the company operates in 130 countries and employs around 80,000 people.