A flurry of activity around container shipping decarbonization is under way, with private sector initiatives occurring alongside ambitious IMO targets to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. On the industry side, 40% of new ships on the carrier orderbook are for vessels capable of running on green fuels, according to industry analyst Alphaliner. Forwarders, meanwhile, are offering zero-carbon products to a growing number of customers, and a coalition of large shippers is pooling 600,000 TEUs of volume over three years is pooling 600,000 TEUs of volume over three years, acting similarly to a traditional shippers’ association and pledging to purchase only ocean freight services powered by scalable zero-carbon fuels by 2040. According to Maersk’s 2022 sustainability report, 70% of its top 200 customers have set carbon goals, including science-based targets, “many of which are on aggressive timelines to reach carbon neutrality by 2040 or even earlier.” At least 4,000 companies globally, representing about a third of global market capitalization, have made Scope 3 reduction commitments of some kind, which cover emissions from activities such as freight transportation produced on a company’s behalf but not by them directly, according to S&P Global Sustainable1. All that said, the path to true decarbonization is one of costs, and if there is one truth in shipping, it’s that cost often proves a deterrent to progress. How expensive could decarbonization be for shippers? Hapag-Lloyd has said that methanol is triple the price of today’s low-sulfur fuels, and Drewry estimates that a switch to so-called green methanol would increase fuel costs by 350% or approximately $1,000 per FEU for containers shipped from Asia to Europe. This session will assess the progress toward decarbonization, how cold chain stakeholders are approaching the issue, and what refrigerated shippers are leading the way in developing best practices.