• TPM25 | March 2-5, 2025
  • TPM25
  • March 2-5, 2025 | Long Beach Convention Center

Heather Wood

CMA CGM

Head of Sustainability-North America

Heather Wood is Head of Sustainability for North America. With over 25 years’ marine industry experience, Heather leads the Group’s Sustainability strategy for People, Planet, and Fair Trade in the U.S. and Canada. Her focus is sustainable business development, specifically ensuring the Group’s energy transition, decarbonization, ocean stewardship, and innovation strategies and the Foundation community investments bring customer value, drive innovation, and support the CMA CGM mission in North America.

Heather’s career in maritime started at The Port of Virginia, the third largest container port complex on the U.S. East Coast. As Vice President of Sustainability and Government Affairs, Ms. Wood developed and directed sustainability strategy, policy, and programming for the Port and was responsible for environmental performance, public engagement, and regulatory affairs related to port and terminal operations.

Prior to joining CMA CGM, Heather was sustainability management consultant to Norfolk Southern Railroad, and the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Houston, North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Virginia.

Heather was appointed to the Marine Board by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine in 2023, and from 2019-2023 served as Chairman of the Virginia State Water Control Board. Outside of her work in maritime and sustainability, one of Heather’s passions is opening doors to education and to career networks for young women and men of purpose and vision.

Sessions With Heather Wood

Tuesday, 5 March

  • 09:20am - 10:00am (PST) / 05/mar/2024 05:20 pm - 05/mar/2024 06:00 pm

    Decarbonization Takes Center Stage for BCOs

    Although maritime decarbonization was left unmentioned in the 2015 Paris Climate deal — the task instead was delegated to the International Maritime Organization — growing pressure for action is coming to bear on maritime, including containers, most recently at the #COP28 UN climate conference in the United Arab Emirates in late 2023. For containers, the impetus for action is increasingly falling to retailers, manufacturers, and other shippers or BCOs. Only a few so far are willing to pay more to reduce emissions. A coalition of BCOs called Cargo Owners for Zero Emissions Vessels, or coZEV, is pooling volumes and going to bid for zero-carbon container shipping. For the next few years, as the IMO writes rules to implement its mid-2023 pledge to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from shipping by around 2050, BCOs stepping up and paying above-market pricing will be the only viable decarbonization pathway in containers. The options are there in the form of biofuel products that offer BCOs verified carbon reduction able to be used in ESG carbon accounting. Zero-emission capacity will expand in coming years as 125 ships (as of late November) able to run on methanol upon delivery hit the high seas, as well as 50 more able to be converted later, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. This session will dive into this topic, providing guidance for BCOs on what to expect in terms of regulatory rulemaking, costs and practicalities. In the process, it will answer the following questions:

    • What new regulations is the IMO likely to implement and when?

    • How can logistics teams translate corporate ESG commitments into practical action on Scope 3 emissions?

    • What zero-carbon shipping options are available to shippers and what do they cost? 

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