World Earth Day: the CMA CGM Group restates its goal of combating global warming and protecting biodiversity by taking several local initiatives

To mark the 52nd World Earth Day, the planet’s biggest participation-based event supporting the environment, the employees of the CMA CGM Group, a world leader in shipping and logistics, are actively supporting several local initiatives to help protect and restore biodiversity. These initiatives are aligned with the Group’s commitment to go net zero by 2050, the decision to stop carrying plastic waste by sea, and to launch the My Daily Impact program, an internal engagement platform helping all employees to cut their carbon footprint.

On April 22, several hundred CMA CGM Group employees worldwide are taking part in operations to pick up litter on beaches (Vietnam) and to reforest certain areas (South Korea).

These initiatives dovetail with the CMA CGM Group’s CSR strategy, especially its efforts to combat pollution of the oceans by plastics, restore fragile ecosystems and lend a helping hand to vulnerable communities.

Led by its Chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saadé, the CMA CGM Group has made groundbreaking decisions to push ahead with its energy transition, including a commitment to go net zero by 2050:

• In November 2017, CMA CGM made the landmark decision to build a fleet of natural gas-powered sheets to help bring down the Group’s emissions. LNG is the most advanced technology currently available and the most effective for preserving air quality (sulfur oxide emissions cut by 99%, fine particle emissions by 91% and nitrogen oxide emissions by 92%) and represents a useful first step towards decarbonization.
• The Group currently has a fleet of 27 dual-fuel LNG-powered ships, set to grow to 44 by 2024.
  To take things to the next level, CMA CGM is supporting efforts to develop generation and distribution of the renewable energies of the future – biomethane (GHG emissions 67% lower), synthetic methane (GHG emissions 80% lower) and e-methane (bordering on carbon-neutral). These alternative fuels are already compatible with the Group’s LNG-powered fleet.
• In parallel, the Group is also investing in second-generation biofuels manufactured from used cooking oils (UCOME), which can deliver an 85% reduction in GHG emissions, from extraction through to combustion.

The Group is also committed to help protect and restore biodiversity, a crucial aspect of climate protection.

• In 2019, CMA CGM announced that none of its ships would use the Northern Sea routes in order to protect the Arctic’s unique but fragile ecosystems.
• In December 2020, CMA CGM launched Reef Recovery, a vast regeneration program for coral reefs with an initial project on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia.
• In 2021, CMA CGM has embarked on a global reforestation plan, planting 110,000 trees – one for each of the Group’s employees – in 12 countries.
• In 2022, Rodolphe Saadé announced during the One Ocean Summit that the Group was going to halt all shipments of plastic waste aboard its vessels effective June 1. This decision will prevent waste from being shipped to locations where sorting and recycling cannot be guaranteed.
• The same year, the Group announced a partnership with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to help protect whales and dolphins off the United States coast.

The customized program launched in April provides educational materials offering employees’ insights about the climate priorities, personalized tools for assessing their carbon footprint, and individual and group challenges for reducing it easily through everyday actions. These challenges can help to raise funds to support charities and organizations involved in protecting the environment.

Challenges include reducing journeys by motorized vehicles, decreasing digital pollution (deleting emails and unused data on servers, etc.) and plastic consumption.

Through a pre-launch in November for 400 pilot users in 52 different countries, My Daily Impact has already delivered a saving of more than 14 tons of CO2 equivalent in the space of four months, equal to 70 return car trips between Marseille and Barcelona.