Moët Hennessy joins Clean Cargo initiative

Wine and spirits manufacturer Moët Hennessy has signed on with the Clean Cargo initiative.

Clean Cargo is a business-to-business leadership initiative founded in 2004 by BSR. BSR’s global membership network includes over 80 members across the shipping industry, all committed to reducing the environmental impact of global freight transportation and promoting responsible shipping.

Clean Cargo members have successfully reduced CO2 emissions per container carried by 9.6 percent between 2015 and 2018, and by 5.6 percent between 2018 and 2019.

Moët Hennessy has been shipping its products primarily by sea for years. This partnership demonstrates a desire to continue to make progress in sustainable maritime transport and share best practices within this community.

“We are looking forward to working with Moët Hennessy in our collaborative effort to decarbonize maritime transport. Together, we can send strong market signals which demonstrate the strategic value of sustainability within freight operations,” says Sarah Mouriño, BSR’s director of transport and Green Freight.

A third of emissions

For the past five years, maritime transport at Moët Hennessy has accounted for 85 to 90 percent of its shipments and nearly a third of its total CO₂ emissions (around 10 percent for road transportation and <1 percent for air transport).

Although sea freight remains the mode of transport with the least environmental impact, it still contributes to global warming, as well as air and water pollution. Moët Hennessy and the Clean Cargo Working Group are actively committed to minimizing pollution, maximizing energy efficiency and protecting marine biodiversity.

“We are fortunate to export our products all over the world and have always made it a priority to do so in the most environmentally sound way possible. The fine-tuning of our supply chain has enabled us to have 87 percent of our shipments by sea freight as of 2020. The partnership with Clean Cargo demonstrates our commitment to further improve our shipping practices for more sustainable transport solutions,” said Alain Doudard, supply chain director at Moët Hennessy.

Innovations in marine transport

In addition to serving as a forum for discussion between members, Clean Cargo offers companies the opportunity to discover the latest innovations and best practices in maritime transport. State-of-the-art measurement tools are also available to monitor and control the environmental impact of sea freight.

“Thanks to the work of our teams over many years to promote maritime transport, we have kept CO₂ emissions from the transport of our products under control. With this partnership, we will be able to better measure these CO₂ emissions from one port to another and find solutions to further reduce our overall carbon footprint,” said Sandrine Sommer, chief sustainability officer at Moët Hennessy.

Through this new partnership, Moët Hennessy continues its commitment to the Living Soils Living Together program, in particular by taking further action for more sustainable transport.

Clean Cargo is a business-to-business leadership initiative that involves major brands, cargo carriers, and freight forwarders dedicated to reducing the environmental impacts of global goods transportation and promoting responsible shipping. Clean Cargo represents around 85 percent of global container cargo capacity and constitutes the leading buyer-supplier forum for sustainability in the cargo shipping industry.

As one of the most well-established green freight initiatives and one of the few with a global reach, Clean Cargo’s CO₂ Emissions Calculation Methodology is the most widely used ocean shipping standard.

BSR provides the executive direction and secretariat for Clean Cargo. Clean Cargo’s activities are overseen by the Steering Committee, with the active participation of Clean Cargo members.