CMA CGM forms $1.5 bn fund for decarbonization

The CMA CGM Group is creating a “Special Fund for Energies,” backed by a five-year, $1.5 billion commitment designed to accelerate its energy transition and achieve net zero by 2050.

The mission of the fund is both to invest in projects to secure the supply of renewable energies for all the group’s businesses and to work with other corporations and researchers in seeking solutions to the challenges of decarbonization.

The fund, which will have a dedicated management team for its launch in October 2022, will focus on the industrial production of new fuels, as well as low-emission mobility solutions across the Group’s maritime, overland, and air freight shipping businesses, as well as its port and logistics services and CMA CGM’s offices.

In announcing the new initiative, they set out a focus on renewable fuel production, accelerating decarbonization at the group’s onshore operations, supporting new projects, building a management plan for the group’s offices, and involving employees to participate with efforts such as work-from-home and changing travel patterns.

While the group has already taken steps to adopt LNG-fueled ships and support projects for alternative fuel production, the fund is tasked with driving the emergence of industrial-scale production facilities for biofuels, biomethane, e-methane, carbon-free methanol, and other alternative fuels, and ensuring that there will be a sufficient volume to meet the group’s needs.

In addition to the shipping fleet, the fund will also seek to accelerate the decarbonization of port terminals, warehouses, and truck fleets operated by CMA CGM. Among the efforts are wind, solar, biomass-fueled, and hydrogen-fueled solutions. A transition plan will be developed for the trucking fleet focusing on electrification.