Metsä Group has agreed to cooperate with the Dutch shipping company Royal Wagenborg on reducing the climate impact of maritime transport. The goal the company has set it to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in sea transport of Metsä Group products by 30 per cent per ton/mil by 2030, when compared to 2021.

“One of Metsä Group’s strategic sustainable development goals for 2030 is to reduce fossil emissions and use of fossil materials in our own operations. As far as the factories are concerned, we are already quite far in realising the goal and we want to achieve similar development steps in our supply chain as well. The majority of our products are delivered to our customers by sea, and Royal Wagenborg is an important partner for us. Shipping as a whole represents about three percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, and it is important to achieve emission reductions in that regard,” says Jari Voutilainen, SVP Sourcing and logistics at Metsä Group.

Metsä Group and Royal Wagenborg will establish a joint working group to define the concrete means by which the emission reduction goal can be reached. For example, the measures are related to both technical and operations measures of the existing Wagenborg fleet, including voyage optimisation and fleet development. Also, new building will be investigated to reach the reduction targets.

“At Royal Wagenborg we are committed to achieve a better climate and environment. That is why we take an active part in the decarbonisation energy transition with ambitious emission reduction targets for our business operations. Looking at our CO2 reduction so far, we are one of the frontrunners in the market. The Baltic region has always been a key trading area for us and the Metsä Group has always been an important partner for us. I am convinced significant CO2 reductions can only be achieved when actions are taken in the entire supply chain. I think this partnership with Metsä is the way to go”, says Egbert Vuursteen, CEO of Royal Wagenborg.