By Ikenna Omeje
 
French energy giant, Total, has joined the “Getting to Zero Coalition” in support of the maritime industry’s decarbonisation by collaborating with companies across the maritime, energy, infrastructure and finance sectors.
In a  press release on Monday, the company said, “Joining the Coalition marks a step further in Total’s commitment alongside its customers in the maritime sector and underlines the Group’s will to act on their energy demand, by supporting them in their own emissions’ reductions. Leveraging its expertise, Total will contribute in to the Coalition’s focus areas including fuels, marine lubricants, and ship zero-emission technologies.”
In his remarks, Total’s President and CEO Patrick Pouyanné, was quoted saying “As a major energy player, Total is already developing cleaner fuels for the maritime industry.”
“We share the ambition to get to net-zero emissions by 2050, together with society, for our global operations. By joining the Getting to Zero Coalition, we want to push innovation and foster collective actions with all the stakeholders of the industry, thus contributing more efficiently to the reduction of the carbon footprint of maritime transport and its energy value chains.” He said.
The company stated that it is already actively working on improving the environmental footprint of the shipping industry, through the development of marine LNG supply infrastructure, fuel-efficient lubricants, biofuels and batteries. It has also recently announced the long term chartering of 2 LNG-propelled VLCCs.
The Getting to Zero Coalition’s ambition is to help achieve the target set by the International Maritime Organisation to reduce Greenhouse Gases emissions from shipping by at least 50 percent by 2050 – compared to 2008 levels. To that extent, the Coalition is aiming, through its members, at getting commercially viable deep-sea zero-emission vessels powered by zero-emission fuels into operation by 2030.