Nine major companies including Amazon, IKEA, Michelin, and Unilever announced today their commitment to progressively switch all of their ocean freight to vessels powered by zero-carbon fuels by 2040, in a “fantastic display of ambition that sends a clear market signal to the maritime value chain and fuel producers,” said Jonathan Lewis, Director of Transportation Decarbonization at Clean Air Task Force.

Amazon, Brooks Running, Frog Bikes, IKEA, Inditex, Michelin, Patagonia, Tchibo, and Unilever are the first signatories to a 2040 ambition statement facilitated by Cargo Owners for Zero Emission Vessels (coZEV), a project facilitated by the Aspen Institute and supported by Clean Air Task Force. The initiative aims to harness the buying power of the world’s largest cargo owners to accelerate the decarbonization of the marine shipping sector, and to encourage companies to engage in collaborative innovation that drives economies of scale and fosters an economically viable marketplace for zero-carbon shipping.

Lewis continued: “In order to combat the climate crisis, we must rapidly decarbonize marine shipping — which accounts for 1 billion tonnes of carbon emissions per year. CATF’s modeling and analysis has found that transitioning the sector from high-emitting fuels to zero-carbon fuels like hydrogen and ammonia is the pathway with the highest likelihood of success. In order to complete that transition, it will take national and international policy leadership, technological advances, and market-driven changes pushed forward by climate-conscious companies. We’re thrilled to see these companies take the lead in charting a new course for marine shipping, and look forward to working with them to help turn ambition into action. We commend these pioneers, and encourage companies around the world to follow their lead.”

Clean Air Task Force recently released an animated video detailing the path to net-zero emissions in the marine shipping sector by 2050. In 2018, CATF released Fuels Without Carbon a report that explores prospects and pathways to advance zero-carbon fuels. In 2021, it released Transportation Deep Decarbonization Synthesis which lays out the findings from a high-level convening on the pathways available for marine shipping decarbonization. Also in 2021, CATF explored the potential for the use of nuclear-derived zero-carbon fuels to help decarbonize marine shipping.