Climate Change and Health
Reducing GHG emissions across our fleet and leading the industry to a more sustainable future
Cargill is committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across our fleet and to leading the maritime industry to a more sustainable future.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) set a target in 2018 to reduce total GHG emissions from shipping by at least 50% by 2050 compared to a 2008 baseline (a task comparable with halving the emissions of a country the size of Germany). This includes reducing the carbon intensity of ships by at least 40% by 2030. To achieve this, industry leaders believe that zero-emission vessels need to be operational and on the water by 2030, meaning that radical changes are required.
Climate change and health are the areas identified as highest material relevance to Cargill’s ocean transportation business. As a charterer and vessel operator of a fleet comprising around 600 vessels, we have four ways to influence our environmental performance: through the type of vessels we charter; the way we operate them; vessels; the energy efficiency optimization of ships we charter in the future; and through our parceling business.
Cargill also has a commitment to reduce GHG across its supply chains, which includes our ocean transportation business. At a global level, the corporation has aligned with the Paris Agreement and set science based targets to guide our progress.
We continue to reduce the carbon intensity across all vessel sizes and last year made notable CO2 reductions on the smaller sizes, handy vessels in particular. Despite increasing our total number of voyages by 4%, we increased our gross CO2 emissions and fuel consumption by just 0.8%. Over the last two years (2018-2019), we have saved around 800,000 metric tons of gross CO2 emissions.
We have done this by optimizing vessel efficiency and voyage operations, by proposing solutions for customers to reduce their CO2 emissions (such as parceling cargoes), by selecting modern vessels that have been verified by RightShip, and by collaborating with partners to drive initiatives across the maritime industry.
Cargill believes that the scale and complexity required to fulfill the IMO’s 2050 target will require a series of incremental changes as shipping – and the energy sector – transitions to carbon-neutral. We see this as a journey comprising three phases - discover Our 2050 Pathway to ZERO.
Read more about our 2020 targets for climate change and health and our progress to date.