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Panalpina, the Basel-based global leader in providing end-to-end supply chain solutions, has signed a sustainability agreement with CMA CGM, a French container transportation and shipping company. In a statement released on Thursday, the two companies said the deal was aimed at cutting their respective carbon emissions by 2025.

Based in Marseilles, France, CMA CGM has ordered nine liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered mega-vessels or Ultra Large Container Vessels (ULCVs) scheduled for delivery in 2020. The shipping containers have a combined capacity of 22,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs). The LNG-powered mega-vessels will help the two companies achieve the environmental goals.

CMA CGM aims to reduce carbon emissions per standard container (TEU) transported by 30 percent by 2025 (its baseline for 2015). Panalpina, on the hand, has committed to reduce CO2 emissions from subcontracted transportation by 22 percent by 2025 (its baseline 2013).

“We are determined to reach that goal by investing in highly fuel-efficient vessels, making constant technical improvements, and retrofitting our fleet,” said Julien Topenot, head of environment and sustainability at CMA CGM.

Panalpina transported 1.5 million TEUs in 2017, making it the fourth biggest ocean freight forwarder in the world. In 2015, the Swiss company committed to the Science-Based Target Initiative, thereby agreeing to actively manage emissions through reduced energy use and stakeholder engagement.

“We are already using CMA CGM’s most efficient and environmentally-friendly services," said Lindsay Zingg, Panalpina’s global head of quality, health, safety and environment (QHSE). "With this new agreement, both Panalpina and CMA CGM reinforce their commitment to sustainability.”

The scope of the sustainability agreement between CMA CGM and Panalpina reportedly goes beyond the reduction of the environmental impact via eco-friendly transport solutions. The companies have committed to collaborate, innovate and improve in four key areas: the environment; ethics and compliance; social responsibility; and community.

Initiatives where CMA GGM and Panalpina intend to work more closely together include occupational health and safety programs, local sourcing as well as emergency relief and support.

According to the Paris Agreement, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations said global greenhouse gas emissions must be cut by up to 70 percent by 2050 to limit global warming to 2°C and avert irreversible climate change. However, in a new report published on October 8, 2018, the IPCC highlighted the need for urgent action to further limit global warming to 1.5°C instead of only 2°C in order to avoid dangerous climate change impacts.