French liner giant CMA CGM is launching a €200m ($215m) fund to help decarbonise the French maritime sector.
An endowment fund has been formed together with investment bank Bpifrance, which will be responsible for examining subsidy or investment applications.
The funds will be endowed to Pulse, CMA CGM’s Energies fund.
Created by chief executive Rodolphe Saade in 2022, Pulse has a €1.5bn mandate to decarbonise the logistics chain.
The new maritime fund will provide financial support for projects initiated by French industrial, maritime and port players.
It will help support initiatives aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of the maritime industry.
The goal is to cover a wide variety of areas such as fishing, passenger transport, maritime freight, boating, as well as port activities and terminals.
Steering committee
A steering committee will include members of the French shipowners association Armateurs de France, which sees financial support as crucial to addressing the sector’s decarbonisation challenge.
The R&D department of CMA CGM will be responsible for the direct supervision of certain research grants.
The endowment fund is the latest in a series of funding measures by CMA CGM to help decarbonisation.
It follows the launch of a $1.5bn energy transition fund set up in 2022 that aims to take it from LNG fuelling of CMA CGM’s container ships to lower-carbon alternatives.
The French carrier is seeking to press forward with industrial-scale production facilities for biofuels, biomethane, e-methane, carbon-free methanol and other alternative fuels.
It is working to increase and secure volumes of these fuels in line with the group’s needs, in partnership with industrial groups that have expertise in the technologies, or by investing in funds or promising start-ups.
