A new report released this week by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL) shows the company has cut its greenhouse gas emissions for 2009 by 32%.
The 2009 Environmental and Social Responsibility Report, which has been published online, is reputedly the shipping industry’s first emissions inventory report to receive third party verification (from risk management specialist Det Norske Veritas) that it conforms to the accounting requirements of ISO 14064-1 and The Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
The protocol is an international accounting tool for government and business leaders to understand, quantify and manage greenhouse gas emissions. It is the product of a decade-long partnership between the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
In the report WWL also reports a cut in its sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions by 135,000 tonnes over a nine-year period from 2000 to 2009, an amount it says is nearly equal to all the SO2 emissions from road vehicles in the US for an entire year (based on data from the US’s Environmental Protection Agency).“We are working hard to minimise our environmental footprint by working closely with our customers to reduce their carbon risk in the supply chain while creating real economic and brand value,” said Melanie Moore, global head of environment and quality, at WWL.
WWL said that it moves nearly 2m cars a year as well as rolling equipment and static cargo on a fleet of more than 60 PCTC and ro-ro vessels.
The online report provides data on WWL’s environmental performance metrics, and information on the company’s other environmental initiatives from 2009, including its “Supply Chain Optimisation” study with Indian carmaker Tata Group and energy consulting group Xyntéo, which was designed to identify ways of reducing both carbon emissions and costs from the Indian automaker’s outbound supply chain (read more here).
The project with Tata analyses one complete factory-to-dealer supply chain, and evaluates alternative scenarios to optimize the chain, based on emission, cost and time.
"Tata is in particular interested in how to profitably work in a low carbon economy and we are excited to work with Tata to develop the optimisation model as well as develop a stronger relationship with one of India's leading manufacturers," said Scott Gibson, Vice President for Global SCM.
Besides the report published this week, WWL is due to make an announcement regarding its green terminal concept at a special meeting of its annual Environment Club meeting in London on May 11th.
