CMA CGM wants to protect oceans, biodiversity

A priority.

The chairman and CEO of CMA CGM Group, Rodolphe Saadé, announced in his speech at the recent One Ocean Summit that the Group would no longer be transporting any plastic waste aboard its ships.

With this new initiative, CMA CGM Group continues its commitment to protect the environment and conserve biodiversity. The group’s latest move is to stop transporting plastic waste aboard its ships beginning June 1 to help protect the oceans and biodiversity.

In his address at the One Ocean Summit, Rodolphe Saadé also announced that the Group will host one of the two sites of the French Institute for Decarbonation at Tangram, the Group’s major innovation and training center, due to open in Marseille in 2023.

The Group is committed to taking concrete decisions on a daily basis in line with its corporate social responsibility (CSR) approach which is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Removing plastic waste: A major priority to conserve biodiversity

According to CMA CGM, around 10 million tons of plastic waste end up in the sea every year. Unless action is taken, that figure is set to triple over the next 20 years to reach 29 million tons per year, which will cause irreversible damage to marine ecosystems, fauna and flora.

The causes of this pollution include open-air storage and the absence of processing infrastructure for plastic waste that does not actively get recycled or reused.

With the decision that it will no longer transport plastic waste on board its ships, CMA CGM will prevent this type of waste from being exported to destinations where sorting, recycling or recovery cannot be assured.

Thus, the Group has decided to take practical steps where it has the operational capability to influence the outcome and heed to urgent calls of many environmental groups and non-governmental organizations.  

Additionally, it is stepping up efforts to make conserving biodiversity one of the priorities of its CSR policy and to develop trading practices to make them more responsible and fairer for everyone and for the planet.

Pro-environment CSR policy

The CMA CGM Group announced a partnership on September 15, 2021 with the Plastic Flamingo Association, which fights against plastic pollution of the oceans in the Philippines, to transform used plastics into eco-materials for transitional shelters.

On September 3, 2021, signed up for the Green Marine Europe label which imposes an annual measure of a company’s environmental performance and a commitment to implement a continuous process of improving its impact on the climate and biodiversity. 

On July 22, 2021, extended the Reef Recovery program to Malaysia and the Philippines after a similar move in Australia and the Seychelles, to protect and restore coral reefs affected by global warming. 

On April 8, 2021, launched the first low-carbon shipping service by using biomethane fuel, a green non-fossil gas produced from organic matters. This fuel allows ships to reduce CO2 emissions by 67 percent. This fleet of “e-methane ready” vessels will include 44 ships by the end of 2024. 

The Group took another step forward with a strategic partnership with French energy company Engie in November 2021, to promote and develop the production of synthetic methane, including e-methane.

In July 2020, suspended all timber exports from Gambia and strengthened the control procedures for the transport of wood protected species, in order to combat illegal rosewood trafficking. 

On August 23, 2019, took a pioneering decision whereby none of its vessels would use the Northern Route, which is gradually being made navigable by melting ice, in order to preserve the Arctic ecosystems. 

The CMA CGM Group serves around 420 ports around the world on five continents. Backed by a fleet of 545 vessels, in 2020 it transported nearly 21 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) containers. 

The Group, committed to the energy transition in shipping, and in the use of alternative fuels, has set a target of carbon neutrality by 2050. In 2020, it has reduced the overall emissions of its fleet by four percent compared to 2019.

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