DP World cuts carbon emissions from UAE operations by nearly 50%

Global ports operator DP World has slashed carbon emissions from its UAE operations by nearly 50 per cent this year, as it seeks to achieve net-zero carbon by 2050.

The company achieved a 47 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by accessing renewable power from the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), it said on Monday.

Dewa has issued more than 200,000 International Renewable Energy Certificates (I-RECs) to DP World so far this year.

“These guarantee that the electricity consumed is generated from renewable sources, with each equivalent to 1 megawatt-hour of electricity,” DP World said.

The I-RECs from Dewa are generated by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. These power DP World’s UAE operations, which include Jebel Ali Port, Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) and Drydocks World.

"We regularly take stock of our impact and aim to reduce our carbon footprint and improve the sustainability of our operations,” said Maha AlQattan, DP World’s group sustainability Officer.

DP World currently manages approximately 9 per cent of the world’s handling capacity and is among the top five global ports operators.

It plans to add about three million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of container-handling capacity by the end of the year to help meet growing demand in key trade markets, it said in August.

The company, which operates ports around the world, pledged in 2021 to become carbon neutral by 2040 and achieve net-zero carbon by 2050. It has also set an intermediate target of a 28 per cent reduction in its carbon footprint by 2030.

“Renewable energy supply is part of our wider strategy to decarbonise our operations ... more than 60 per cent of electricity consumed by DP World globally comes from renewable sources,” Ms AlQattan said.

The company raised $1.5 billion in a green sukuk issuance to fund its global decarbonisation projects as it seeks to align its financing strategy with its sustainability efforts.

As part of its global decarbonisation initiatives, DP World said it has reduced its carbon emissions by electrifying its terminals in Rotterdam and Jebel Ali, alongside pioneering the use of biodiesel in its Southampton port in the UK.

Recently, the company announced that it cut global carbon emissions by 5 per cent last year, with a 4 per cent reduction in energy consumption.

At the Cop27 summit in Egypt last November, the company pledged to invest up to $500 million to cut carbon emissions by nearly 700,000 tonnes over the next five years.

In 2022, the international shipping sector accounted for about 2 per cent of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, the International Energy Agency said.

Steering the global maritime shipping sector on to a trajectory consistent with net-zero emissions by 2050 requires an almost 15 per cent reduction in emissions from 2022 to 2030, the energy agency said at the time.