By Dominic Chopping

A.P. Moeller-Maersk said Wednesday that it is accelerating its net-zero emission targets, aiming to achieve net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions in 2040--a decade ahead of its initial 2050 ambition.

The Danish shipping company said its new emissions targets are expected to align the company with the net-zero criteria of the Science Based Targets initiative, the nonprofit organization that assesses whether corporate targets align with the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit on global warming.

The targets go beyond previous efforts to reduce emissions related to the ocean fleet as they cover all direct and indirect emissions across the entire Maersk business, it said.

"As a global provider of end-to-end logistics services across all transport modes, it is a strategic imperative for Maersk to extend our net zero ambition to the total footprint of the business," Chief Executive Soren Skou said.

The company also set near-term targets for 2030, including a 50% reduction in emissions per transported container in the Maersk Ocean fleet and a 70% reduction in absolute emissions from fully controlled terminals.

Depending on growth in the ocean business, this will lead to absolute emissions reductions between 35% and 50% from a 2020 baseline, it said.

Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-12-22 0429ET