On 7 November, at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, DP World Group chairman and CEO Ahmed Bin Sulayem announced that its company intends to invest up to US$500 million to reduce CO2 emissions from its operations by almost 700,000 tonnes over the next five years, representing a 20% cut from 2021 levels.
“We have already committed to becoming a carbon neutral enterprise by 2040 and net zero carbon enterprise by 2050. We will work with our global partners to develop an action plan to advance the goals of the GSC and encourage industry players to devise plans to address climate change,” commented Ahmed Bin Sulayem.
US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gar Store had the idea to encourage countries, ports, companies and other actors in the shipping value chain to make concrete announcements to advance ocean-based climate actions.
DP World’s plans include replacing its global fleet of assets from diesel to electric, investing in renewable power and exploring alternative fuels.
In January, DP World entered into a strategic partnership with the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, with the aim of intensive research and development to find practical ways to decarbonise the global shipping industry.
The global decarbonisation strategy aims first to reduce absolute emissions as much as possible, then to focus on replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, and finally to purchase offsets for the difficult reduction of remaining emissions for the 2040 carbon-neutral balance target.
